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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY  T.  COATES  &  CO, 


THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  SERIES. 


FRANK 


AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 


HARRY  CASTLEMON, 

APTHOK  07  "  THE  GUN-BOAT  SERIES,"   "  THB  GO-ABBAB 
SERIES,"   ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY  T.  COATES  &  CO. 


FAMOUS  CASTLEMON  BOOKS. 


GUNBOAT  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.    6vols.    12mo. 

FRANK  THE  YOUNG  NATURALIST.  FRANK  OK  A  GUNBOAT. 

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Cloth. 

FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS.        FRANK  AT  DON  CARLOS'  RANCH. 
FRANK  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

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Cloth. 
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TOM  NEWCOMBE.  GO-AHEAD.  No  Moss. 

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Cloth. 

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WAR  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.    5  vols.    12mo.    Cloth. 
TRUE  TO  HIS  COLORS.  RODNEY  THE  PARTISAN. 

RODNEY  THE  OVERSEER.  MARCY  THE  BLOCKADE-RUNNEB. 

MARCY  THE  REFUGEE. 

Other  Volumes  in  Preparation. 

Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

R.  W.  CARROLL  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  Southern  District  of  Ohio. 


COPYRIGHT,  18%,  BY  CHARLES  A.  FOSDICK. 


PZ 
7 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
A  Novel  Battle,         »      . 


CHAPTER  II. 
Frank's  New  Home  ..........     16 

CHAPTER  III. 
Twelve  Thousand  Dollars,     ........29 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Frank  Proves  Himself  a  Hero,    ....  .      .     40 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Fight  in  the  Court,        ........     64 


CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Mysteries  Solved,      .       ... 


CHAPTER  VIL 
Frank  Meets  a  Highwayman,     .       .      V      .      .      •      .81 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Colonel  Arthur  Vane,     .......  86 


CHAPTER  IK. 
An  Old  Boy,        .....       .       .....    110 

(ill) 


IV  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X. 
Arthur  Shows  His  Courage,  .      •  120 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Arthur  Plans  Revenge,  .........    U? 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Off  for  the  Mountains,    .......  .164 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Pierre  and  His  Band,     .......  168 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
A  Dinner  in  the  Mountains,        .......    180 

CHAPTER  XV. 
More  Treachery,        ........  .193 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Escape,         .      ........       ..204 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Struggle  on  the  Cliff,      .       .......   221 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 
Conclusion  .......      ..  ...97 


FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A   NOVEL   BATTLE. 

"  pULL  him  along,  Carlos !    Pull  him  along  I" 
-*-    shouted  a  young  gentleman  about  sixteen 
years  of  age,  as  he  danced  about  on  the  back 
porch  of  his  uncle's  house,  in  a  state  of  great 
excitement ;  "  why  do  n't  you  pull  him  along?" 
"  He  '11  come,  after  awhile,"  replied  the  per- 
son addressed;  "but  he  is  very  wild  and  ob- 
stinate." 

The  boy  on  the  porch  was  almost  beside  him- 
self— so  much  so;  in  fact,  that  he  found  it  ut- 
terly impossible  to  stand  still.  He  was  jump- 
ing wildly  about,  swinging  his  arms  around  his 
head,  and  laughing  and  shouting  at  the  top  of 

his  lungs. 

(5) 


6  FRANK   AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

We  have  met  this  young  gentleman  before, 
We  have  been  with  him  through  the  woods,  ac- 
companied him  across  the  prairie,  and  seen  him 
ir  some  exciting  situations;  but,  for  all  that, 
it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  his  most  intimate 
friend,  could  he  have  beheld  him  while  he  was 
dancing  about  on  the  porch,  would  have  recog- 
nized him.  The  last  time  we  saw  him  he  was 
dressed  in  a  suit  of  blue  jeans,  rather  the  worse 
for  wear,  a  slouch  hat,  and  a  pair  of  heavy  horse- 
man's boots.  Now,  he  sports  a  suit  of  clothes 
cut  in  the  height  of  fashion — that  is,  Mexican 
fashion.  They  are  not  exactly  of  the  descrip- 
tion that  we  see  on  the  streets  every  day,  but 
they  are  common  among  the  farmers  of  Southern 
California,  for  that  is  where  this  young  gentle- 
man lives.  He  is  dressed  in  a  short  jacket  of 
dark  blue  cloth,  trimmed  around  the  edges,  and 
on  the  sleeves,  with  gold  lace,  and  wide  trousers 
of  the  same  material,  also  gaudily  ornamented. 
The  hat,  with  which  he  fans  his  flushed  face, 
is  a  sombrero,  bound  with  gold  cord,  the  ends 
of  which  are  adorned  with  tassels,  that  fall 
jauntily  over  the  edge  of  the  brim.  An  em- 
broidered shirt  of  gray  cloth,  and  shoes  and 


A    NOVEL   BATTLE.  7 

stockings,  complete  his  attire ;  or,  -we  may  add, 
a  long  crimson  sash,  which  is  wound  several 
times  around  his  waist,  and  tied  at  the  side, 
and  a  pair  of  small  Mexican  spurs,  whose  row- 
els are  ornamented  with  little  silver  bells, 
which  tinkle  musically  as  he  moves  his  feet 
about.  If  you  fail  to  recognize  an  old  ac- 
quaintance in  this  excited,  sunburnt  boy,  you 
surely  can  call  the  name  of  the  tall,  broad- 
shouldered,  sober-looking  youth,  who  stands  at 
a  is  side.  Three  months  in  the  saddle  have  not 
changed  Frank  Nelson  a  great  deal,  only  he  is  a 
little  more  robust,  and,  perhaps,  more  sedate. 
He  has  lost  none  of  his  love  of  excitement,  and 
he  is  quite  as  interested  in  what  is  going  on  be- 
fore him  as  Archie ;  but  he  stands  with  his  hands 
in  his  pockets,  looking  as  dignified  as  a  judge. 
It  would  be  a  wonder  if  they  were  not  some- 
what excited,  as  they  are  witnessing  a  desperate 
battle  that  is  going  on  between  two  of  their 
uncle's  Rancheros  and  a  wild  steer,  which  one 
cf  them  has  lassoed,  and  is  trying  to  pull 
through  the  gate  into  the  cow-pen.  The  ani- 
mal is  struggling  furiously  for  his  freedom,  and 
\he  issue  of  the  contest  is  doubtful. 


8     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

At  the  time  our  story  begins,  Frank  and  his 
cousin  had  lived  two  months  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, where  Mr.  Winters  owned  a  farm — or, 
in  the  language  of  that  country,  a  raneho — of 
sixteen  thousand  acres.  Besides  attending  to 
his  business  in  the  mines,  and  superintending 
his  affairs  in  Sacramento,  Uncle  James  had  de- 
voted a  portion  of  his  time  to  stock-raising ; 
and,  when  Frank  and  Archie  first  saw  his  im- 
mense droves  of  horses  and  cattle,  they  thought 
them  sufficient  in  numbers  to  supply  all  the 
markets  in  America. 

Mr.  Winters's  raneho  was  not  managed  like 
the  farms  in  our  part  of  the  country.  To  begin 
with,  there  were  but  three  fences  on  it — one  in- 
closed two  small  barns  and  corn-cribs;  another, 
a  pasture  of  two  or  three  acres,  and  the  third 
formed  the  cow-pen.  In  the  barns,  Uncle 
James  kept  his  riding  and  farm  horses;  the 
pasture  was  for  the  use  of  the  half  dozen  cows 
which  supplied  the  raneho  with  butter  and  milk; 
and  the  cow-pen  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
a  prison,  into  which,  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
all  the  young  cattle  and  horses  were  driven  and 
branded  with  the  initials  of  the  owner's  name. 


A   NCTVEL   BATTLE.  9 

This  was  done  so  that  Mr.  Winters  and  his 
hired  men  might  be  able  to  recognize  the  stock 
anywhere.  The  cattle  sometimes  strayed,  and 
became  mixed  up  with  those  of  the  neighbors 
and  the  marks  on  their  flanks  showed  to  whom 
they  belonged. 

A  fence  around  that  farm  would  have  been 
useless.  None  of  the  cattle  and  horses  had  ever 
been  handled,  except  when  they  were  branded, 
and,  consequently,  they  were  very  wild.  Some- 
times they  became  frightened  and  stampeded; 
and  then  they  behaved  like  a  herd  of  buffaloes, 
which  turn  aside  for  nothing,  and  stop  only 
when  they  are  completely  tired  out.  On  these 
occasions,  the  strongest  fences  that  could  have 
been  made  would  have  been  trampled  down 
like  the  grass  beneath  their  feet. 

Of  course,  these  cattle  and  horses  had  never 
seen  the  inside  of  a  stable.  Indeed,  a  barn 
large  enough  to  accommodate  them  would  have 
been  an  immense  building,  and  would  have  cost 
more  money  than  all  the  stock-raisers  in  the 
country  were  worth.  However,  there  was  no 
need  of  shelter  for  them.  The  grass  on  the 
prairie  was  abundant  at  all  seasons  of  the  year, 


10     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

the  winters  were  very  mild,  and  the  cattle  were 
always  fat  and  in  condition  to  be  driven  to 
market. 

All  this  stock  was  managed  by  half  a  dozen 
men,  called  Rancheros.  Four  of  them  were 
Mexicans ;  the  others  were  our  old  friends,  Dick 
Lewis  and  Bob  Kelly.  So  skillful  were  these 
men  in  their  business,  that  a  herd  of  cattle, 
which,  in  the  hands  of  any  one  else,  would  have 
proved  utterly  unmanageable,  was  driven  about 
by  them  with  perfect  ease.  Sometimes  it  be- 
came necessary  to  secure  a  single  member  of 
these  droves.  Perhaps  the  housekeeper  wanted 
some  fresh  meat  for  dinner,  or  Uncle  James  de- 
sired a  new  riding  horse;  in  either  case,  the 
services  of  these  men  were  invaluable.  Mr. 
"Winters  would  issue  the  necessary  orders  to 
Carlos — who  was  the  chief  of  the  Rancheros, 
and  the  man  who  managed  the  farm  during  the 
absence  of  his  employer — and  an  hour  or  two 
afterward  four  quarters  of  fine  beef  would  be 
carried  into  the  cellar,  or  Mr.  Winters  would  be 
requested  to  step  to  the  door  and  see  if  they  had 
captured  the  horse  he  wanted.  The  Hancheros 
accomplished  this  with  their  lassos,  which  they 


A  NOVEL   BATTLE.  11 

carried  suspended  from  the  horns  of  their  sad- 
dles wherever  they  went.  A  lasso  is  a  long 
rope,  about  as  large  as  a  clothes-line,  and  is  gen 
erally  made  of  rawhide.  One  end  of  it  ia 
fastened  to  the  saddle,  and  the  other,  by  the  aid 
of  a  strong  iron  ring,  formed  into  a  running 
noose.  This  contrivance  these  herdsmen  could 
use  with  a  skill  that  was  astonishing.  Mounted 
on  their  fleet  horses,  they  would  ride  up  behind 
a  wild  steer,  and  catch  him  by  the  horns,  around 
his  neck,  or  by  one  of  his  feet,  as  suited  their 
fancy. 

On  the  morning  we  find  Frank  and  Archie 
on  the  porch,  their  nearest  neighbor,  also  a 
stock-raiser,  had  ridden  over  to  inform  them 
that  one  of  his  fine  steers,  which  he  had  in- 
tended to  drive  to  market,  had  escaped  from  his 
Rancheros,  and  joined  one  of  Mr.  Winters's 
droves ;  whereupon  Frank,  who,  in  the  absence 
of  his  uncle,  acted  as  the  head  man  of  the 
ranch,  sent  for  Carlos,  and  commanded  him  to 
capture  the  runaway,  and  confine  him  in  the 
cow-pen  until  his  owner  should  send  for  him. 
Carlos  had  obeyed  the  first  part  of  the  order,  but 
just  then  it  seemed  that  that  was  all  he  could 


12     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

do.  The  steer  had  suddenly  taken  it  into  his 
head  that  he  had  been  driven  far  enough,  and 
that  he  would  not  go  through  the  gate  that  led 
into  the  cow-pen;  and,  although  Carlos  pulled 
him  by  his  lasso,  which  he  had  thrown  over  his 
horns,  and  another  Ranchero,  named  Felix, 
vigorously  applied  a  whip  from  behind,  the  ob- 
stinate animal  refused  to  budge  an  inch.  Some- 
times he  would  kick,  and  plunge,  and  try  to 
run  off;  and  then  the  horse  on  which  Carlos 
was  mounted,  which  seemed  to  understand  the 
business  quite  as  well  as  his  master,  would  plant 
his  fore-feet  firmly  on  the  ground  to  stop  him. 
Finding  that  he  could  not  effect  his  escape  in 
that  way,  the  steer  would  run  around  in  a  circle; 
and  the  horse  would  turn  around  also,  keeping 
his  face  toward  the  animal  all  the  while,  and 
thus  avoid  being  wrapped  up  in  the  lasso. 
This  novel  battle  had  been  going  on  for  nearly 
ten  minutes,  and  even  Frank  had  become  highly 
excited  over  it. 

"  Pull  him  along,  Carlos !"  shouted  Archie, 
jumping  about  on  the  porch  as  if  he  had  lost  all 
control  over  his  legs,  and  they  would  dance  in 
spite  of  every  thing  he  could  do  to  prevent  it. 


A  NOVEL  BATTLE.  13 

"Pull  him  along!  Whip  up  behind,  Felix; 
hit  him  hard !" 

Archie  continued  to  shout  his  orders  at  the 
top  of  his  voice ;  but  they  did  not  seem  to  help 
the  matter  any,  for  the  steer  still  refused  to 
move.  He  had  fallen  to  his  knees,  and  laid  hia 
head  close  to  the  ground,  as  if  he  had  deliber- 
ately resolved  that  he  would  remain  there  ;  and 
for  a  long  time,  all  the  pulling  and  whipping 
the  two  Rancheros  could  do,  brought  nothing 
from  him  but  angry  snorts  and  shakes  of  the 
head. 

"Now,  Archie,"  said  Carlos,  as  he  stopped 
to  wipe  the  big  drops  of  perspiration  from  hia 
face,  "what  would  you  do  with  this  fellow?" 

The  boys,  who  never  neglected  an  opportunity 
to  pick  up  items  of  information  concerning 
every  thing  that  came  in  their  way,  had  been 
taking  lessons  of  the  Rancheros  in  horseman- 
ship, throwing  the  lasso,  and  managing  wild 
cattle;  and  Carlos  thought  this  a  proper  occa- 
sion: to  ascertain  how  much  they  remembered  of 
what  they  had  learned. 

"Well,"  replied  Archie,  pulling  off  his  som- 
brero, and  digging  his  fingers  into  his  head,  to 


14     FBANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEBOS. 

stir  up  his  ideas,  "I'd  keep  pulling  and  haul- 
ing at  him  until  I  got  him  tired  out,  and  then 
I  think  I  could  manage  him." 

"That  would  take  up  too  much  time,"  aaid 
Carlos ;  "  I  've  got  other  work  to  do,  and  I  am 
in  a  hurry." 

."  Make  your  lasso  fast  to  the  horn  of  your 
saddle,  and  start  up  your  horse,  and  drag  him 
in,"  suggested  Frank. 

"That's  the  idea,  and  that's  just  what  I'm 
going  to  do,"  said  Carlos. 

But  that  was  just  what  the  Ranchero  did  not 
do.  "While  he  was  preparing  to  put  this  plan 
into  operation,  the  steer  suddenly  jumped  to 
his  feet,  and  made  another  desperate  attempt  to 
effect  his  escape,  and  this  time  he  was  success- 
ful. There  was  a  loud  snap,  Carlos's  heels 
made  a  flourish  in  the  air  like  the  shafts  of  a 
windmill,  and,  in  an  instant,  he  was  stretched 
at  full  length  on  the  ground.  His  saddle-girth 
had  parted,  and  the  steer  was  at  liberty  to  take 
himself  off,  which  he  did  in  short  order. 

The  boys  gazed  in  astonishment  at  the  fallen 
horseman,  who  righted  himself  with  alacrity, 
stretched  his  arms  and  legs  to  satisfy  himself 


A  NOVEL   BATTLE.  15 

t.liat  there  were  no  bones  broken,  and  then  com- 
menced shouting  some  orders  to  his  companion, 
who  put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  started  in  pur- 
suit of  the  steer,  which  was  galloping  over  the 
prairie,  dragging  Carlos's  saddle  after  him. 
He  was  very  soon  overtaken,  and  Felix,  rais- 
ing himself  in  his  stirrups,  swung  his  lasso 
around  his  head  once  or  twice,  to  make  sure  of 
an  accurate  aim,  and  launched  it  at  the  steer. 
The  lariat  whistled  through  the  air,  as  true  to 
its  course  as  a  ball  from  a  rifle,  the  noose  set- 
tled down  over  his  horns,  the  horse  stopped 
suddenly,  and  the  runaway  lay  struggling  on 
the  ground. 

His  last  attempt  at  escape  seemed  to  have 
exhausted  his  energies,  for  when  he  had  re- 
gained his  feet,  he  allowed  Felix  to  lead  him 
back  to  the  gate  and  into  the  cow-pen,  where  he 
was  turned  loose,  to  remain  until  his  owner 
should  send  for  him. 


16  FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEBOS. 


CHAPTER  II. 
FRANK'S  NEW  HOME. 

Tj^RANK  and  Archie,  as  we  have  before  re- 
r 
marked,  had  been  in  California  about  two 

months;  and,  between  riding,  hunting,  visit- 
ing, and  assisting  Uncle  James,  who  was  en- 
gaged in  selling  off  his  stock  and  closing  up 
his  business,  preparatory  to  his  return  to 
Lawrence,  they  had  passed  the  time  most 
agreeably.  They  were  as  fond  as  ever  of 
excitement,  were  almost  constantly  in  the 
saddle,  and  Mr.  "Winters  often  said  that  if 
they  and  their  horses  and  dog  did  not  travel 
a  thousand  miles  every  day,  it  was  not  because 
they  did  not  try. 

When  the  boys  first  arrived  in  California, 
they  thought  themselves  expert  in  all  manner 
of  frontier  accomplishments.  But,  one  morn- 
ing, they  rode  over  to  visit  Johnny  Harris  and 
Dick  Thomas — two  boys,  about  their  own  age, 


FRANK'S  NEW  HOME.  17 

with  whom  they  had  become  acquainted — and, 
during  the  day,  they  witnessed  some  feats  of 
skill  that  made  them  wonder.  Johnny  and 
Dick,  to  show  what  they  could  do,  captured 
and  rode  a  couple  of  wild  horses,  that  had  never 
been  handled  before;  and  Frank  and  Archie 
were  compelled  to  admit  that  they  had  some 
things  yet  to  learn.  Every  boy  in  that  coun- 
try could  throw  the  lasso,  and  the  cousins 
found  that,  if  they  desired  to  keep  up  their 
reputation,  they  must  put  themselves  under  in- 
structions. Dick  and  Bob  readily  took  them 
in  hand,  and,  although  the  boys  were  awkward 
at  first,  they  improved  rapidly.  They  soon 
learned  to  throw  the  lasso  with  considerable 
skill,  and  Frank  speedily  took  the  lead  in  rifle- 
shooting,  while  Archie  began  to  brag  of  his 
horsemanship.  The  former  could  bring  a 
squirrel  out  of  the  top  of  the  highest  oak  on 
the  farm,  at  every  shot;  and  his  cousin  could 
bend  down  from  his  saddle  and  pick  up  his 
sombrero  from  the  ground,  while  his  horse  was 
going  at  the  top  of  his  speed. 

The  horses  the  boys  rode  were  the  same  that 
had  carried  them  across  the  prairie,  and  they 
2 


18     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

were  now  hitched  at  the  end  of  the  porch,  sad- 
dled and  bridled,  and  awaiting  the  pleasure  of 
their  masters.  One  of  them,  Sleepy  Sam, 
looked  as  sleepy  as  ever.  He  stood  with  his 
head  down,  and  his  eyes  half  closed,  as  if  it 
made  no  difference  to  him  whether  Archie  took 
his  morning  ride  or  not.  The  other,  a  mag- 
nificent iron-gray,  pulled  impatiently  at  his 
halter,  and  pranced  about,  apparently  as  much 
excited  as  Archie  had  been  a  few  moments  be- 
fore. This  was  the  "king  of  the  drove" — the 
one  the  trappers  had  captured  during  their  so- 
journ at  the  Old  Bear's  Hole.  He  answered  tc 
the  name  of  Roderick ;  for  Frank  had  read 
Sir  Walter  Scott's  "  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  and, 
admiring  the  character  of  the  rebel  chieftain, 
had  named  his  favorite  after  him.  Perhaps 
the  name  was  appropriate,  for  the  animal  some- 
times showed  a  disposition  to  rebel  against  law- 
ful authority,  especially  when  any  one  besides 
Fit.nk  attempted  to  put  a  saddle  or  bridle  on 
him.  He  was  a  wild-looking  fellow,  and  he 
had  a  way  of  laying  back  his  ears,  and  open- 
ing his  mouth,  when  any  one  came  near  him, 
that  would  have  made  a  stranger  think  twice 


FRANK'S  NEW  HOME.  19 

before  trying  to  mount  him.  With  Frank, 
however,  he  was  as  gentle  as  a  dog.  He  would 
come  at  his  call,  stand  on  his  hind  legs,  and 
carry  his  master's  whip  or  sombrero.  He 
would  kick  and  bite  at  Frank  when  the  latter 
tickled  him  in  the  ribs,  all  in  sport,  of  course ; 
but  if  Mr.  Winters,  or  one  of  the  herdsmen, 
came  about  him,  he  would  use  his  teeth  and 
heels  in  good  earnest.  He  was  as  swift  as  ever, 
and  Frank  had  yet  to  see  the  horse  that  could 
beat  him. 

The  saddles  these  horses  wore  were  like  every 
thing  else  about  themselves  and  masters,  of  the 
Mexican  pattern.  They  were  made  of  beauti- 
fully-stamped leather,  with  high  pommels  in 
front,  the  tops  of  which  were  flat,  and  as  large 
around  as  the  crown  of  Frank's  sombrero.  A 
pair  of  saddle-bags  was  fastened  across  the  seat 
of  each,  in  which  the  boys  carried  several  handy 
articles,  such  as  flint,  steel,  and  tinder  for 
lighting  a  fire;  ammunition  for  their  revolvers, 
•which  were  safely  stowed  away  in  bearskin 
holsters  strapped  in  front  of  the  saddles,  and 
large  clasp-knives,  that  were  useful  in  skinning 
squirrels  when  the  boys  went  hunting.  Behind 


20  FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

the  saddles,  neatly  rolled  up,  and  held  in  their 
places  by  straps,  were  a  couple  of  pouches, 
which  they  used  in  rainy  weather.  They  were 
pieces  of  India-rubber  cloth,  with  holes  in  the 
center  for  the  wearers'  heads.  They  were 
large  enough  to  afford  complete  protection  from 
the  rain,  and  could  also  be  used  as  tents  in  case 
the  boys  found  it  necessary  to  camp  all  night 
on  the  prairie. 

We  have  spoken  of  Frank's  dog ;  but  were  we 
to  let  the  matter  drop  here,  it  would  be  slight- 
ing an  animal  which  had  played  a  somewhat 
important  part  in  the  history  of  Frank's  life  in 
California.  His  name  was  Marmion,  and  he  had 
been  presented  to  Frank  by  Captain  Porter — 
an  old  fur-trader,  who  lived  a  few  miles  dis- 
tant from  the  rancho,and  with  whom  the  cous- 
ins were  great  favorites.  Archie  did  not  like 
the  dog,  and,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  the  dog 
had  not  the  smallest  particle  of  affection  for 
Archie.  In  fact,  he  cared  for  no  one  except  his 
master,  and  that  was  the  reason  the  fur-trader 
had  given  him  to  Frank.  He  was  as  large  as 
two  ordinary  dogs — very  courageous,  and  so 
savage  that  no  one  cared  to  trouble  him.  He 


FRANK'S  NEW  HOME.  21 

had  seen  some  stirring  times  during  his  life, 
and  his  body  was  covered  with  wounds,  some 
of  which  were  not  entirely  healed.  Frank  was 
quite  as  fond  of  him  as  he  was  of  Brave,  and 
with  good  reason,  too.  Marmion  had  received 
those  wounds  while  fighting  for  his  master,  ani 
it  was  through  his  interference  that  Frank  had 
been  saved  from  a  long  captivity.  It  happened 
before  the  commencement  of  our  story,  and 
how  it  came  to  pass  shall  be  told  in  the  follow- 
ing chapters. 

The  house  in  which  Frank  and  Archie  lived 
stood  in  a  grove  of  stately  oak-trees,  and,  ex- 
ternally, was  in  perfect  keeping  with  its  sur- 
roundings. It  was  built  of  massive  logs,  in  the 
form  of  a  hollow  square,  with  an  open  court  in 
the  center,  which  was  paved  with  stone.  The 
windows,  which  extended  down  to  the  floor, 
and  which  were  used  for  ingress  and  egress 
quite  as  often  as  the  doors,  were  protected  by 
shutters  made  of  heavy  planks,  and  there  were 
four  loop-holes  on  each  side  of  the  house,  show- 
ing that  it  had  been  intended  to  serve  as  a  de- 
fense as  well  as  a  shelter.  Indeed,  it  looked 
more  like  a  fortification  than  a  dwelling. 


22     FEANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

The  house  was  old,  and  had  a  history-— an 
exciting  one,  too,  as  any  one  could  have  told 
after  examining  it  closely.  The  walls  bore  nu- 
merous scars,  which  had  been  made  by  bullets, 
and  iae  trees  surrounding  the  dwelling  were 
marked  in  the  same  manner.  The  grove  had 
not  always  been  as  peaceful  and  quiet  as  we 
found  it.  Its  echoes  had  been  awakened  by  the 
yells  of  infuriated  men  and  the  reports  of  hos- 
tile rifles,  and  the  very  sod  upon  which  Frank 
sometimes  stretched  himself  after  dinner,  to 
while  away  an  hour  with  some  favorite  author, 
had  been  wet  with  blood. 

When  the  house  was  built,  there  was  not 
another  human  habitation  within  a  circle  of 
twenty  miles.  The  country  was  an  unbroken 
wilderness.  Mr.  Winters's  nearest  neighbors 
were  bands  of  roving  freebooters,  who  robbed 
all  who  came  in  their  way.  They  did  not, 
however,  content  themselves  with  waylaying 
solitary  travelers.  They  frequently  made  or- 
ganized attacks  upon  remote  farm-houses,  and 
one  night  they  made  a  sudden  descent  upon 
Mr.  "Winters's  rancho.  But  the  old  frontiers- 
man had  lived  too  long  in  that  country,  and 


FRANK'S  NEW  HOME.  23 

was  too  well  acquainted  with  the  character  of 
his  neighbors,  to  be  caught  napping.  He  and 
his  Rancheros  were  armed  to  the  teeth,  and 
prepared  for  a  fight ;  and,  after  a  siege  of  two 
days,  during  which  time  the  robbers  poured  an 
almost  constant  shower  of  bullets  against  the 
walls  of  the  house,  they  withdrew,  after  shoot- 
ing and  dispersing  the  cattle,  and  destroying 
the  crops.  Not  one  of  Mr.  Winters's  party 
was  injured;  but  the  outlaws  suffered  so  se- 
verely, that  they  never  repeated  the  attempt  to 
rob  that  rancho. 

Frank  and  Archie  never  grew  tired  of  hear- 
ing Uncle  James  tell  the  story  of  that  fight, 
and  nearly  every  day  they  examined  the  marks 
of  the  bullets  on  the  logs,  sometimes  being  fool- 
ish enough  to  wish  that  they  had  been  there  to 
take  part  in  those  exciting  scenes,  or  that  the 
robbers  would  return  and  make  another  attack 
on  the  house,  so  that  they  might  be  able  to  say 
that  they  had  been  in  a  real  battle.  Then  they 
would  have  a  story  to  tell  that  would  be  worth 
listening  to.  They  never  imagined  that,  before 
they  were  many  years  older,  they  could  recount 
adventures  quite  as  exciting  as  their  uncles. 


24     FEANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEKOS. 

The  interior  of  the  house  presented  a  str&nge 
contrast  to  the  outside.  "When  one  crossed  the 
threshold,  he  found  himself  surrounded  with 
all  the  comforts  of  civilization.  There  weie 
fine  carpets  on  the  floors,  oil  paintings  on  the 
walls,  and  easy  chairs,  sofas,  and  musical  in- 
struments in  abundance.  The  room  the  boys 
occupied  was  the  only  one  in  which  could  be 
found  any  traces  of  the  backwoods.  It  was  a 
pleasant,  cheerful  apartment,  quite  as  nicely 
furnished  as  the  other  rooms  in  the  house,  and 
every  thing  about  it  bespoke  the  taste  and  char- 
acter of  its  young  masters.  A  stranger,  having 
taken  a  single  glance  at  the  numerous  articles 
hung  upon  the  walls,  and  scattered  about  over 
the  floor — some  of  them  useful  and  ornamental, 
others  apparently  of  no  value  or  service  to  any 
one — could  have  told  that  its  presiding  geniuses 
were  live,  wide-awake,  restless  boys. 

The  room  contained  a  fine  library,  an  exten- 
sive collection  of  relics  of  all  descriptions,  and 
its  walls  were  adorned  with  pictures,  only  they 
were  of  a  different  character  from  those  in  the 
other  parts  of  the  house.  Frank  and  Archie 
cared  nothing  for  such  scenes  as  the  "  Soldier's 


FBANK'S  NEW  HOME.  25 

Dream  "  and  "  Sunrise  in  the  Mountains;"  their 
tastes  ran  in  another  channel.  Their  favorite 
picture  hung  over  their  writing  desk,  and  was 
entitled,  "One  Rubbed  Out."  In  the  fore- 
ground was  a  man  mounted  on  a  mustang  that 
was  going  at  full  speed.  The  man  was  dressed 
in  the  garb  of  a  hunter,  with  leggins,  mocca- 
sins, and  coonskin  cap,  and  in  one  hand  he 
carried  a  rifle,  while  the  other  held  the  reins 
which  guided  his  horse.  The  hunter  was 
turned  half  around  in  the  saddle,  looking  back 
toward  half  a  dozen  Indians,  who  had  been 
pursuing  him,  but  were  now  gathered  about 
their  chief,  who  had  been  struck  from  his  horse 
by  a  ball  from  the  hunter's  rifle.  The  latter's 
face  wore  a  broad  grin,  which  testified  to  the 
satisfaction  he  felt  at  the  result  of  this  shot. 
This  picture  had  been  shown  to  old  Bob  Kelly, 
who,  after  regarding  it  attentively  for  a  few 
moments,  declared  that  it  must  have  been 
painted  by  some  one  who  was  acquainted  with 
the  story  of  his  last  trip  to  the  Saskatchewan, 
the  particulars  of  which  he  had  related  to  Dick 
on  the  night  he  made  his  first  appearance  in 
their  camp. 


26     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANPHERO8. 

' "  I  do  n't  know  how  the  chap  that  made  that 
ar'  pictur'  could  have  found  it  out/'  sa:d  old 
Bob,  who,  simple-hearted  fellow  that  he  was, 
really  believed  that  the  hunter  in  the  painting 
was  intended  to  represent  him,  "'cause  I  never 
told  the  story  to  nobody  'cept  you  an'  my  chum 
Dick.  But  thar  's  one  thing  wrong  about  it, 
youngsters.  When  I  shot  a  Injun,  I  did  n't 
hold  my  rifle  on  the  horn  of  my  saddle,  an' 
waste  time  laughin'  over  it.  I  loaded  up  again 
to  onct,  an'  got  ready  for  another  shot." 

At  the  opposite  end  of  the  room  hung  a  pic- 
ture of  a  hunters'  camp.  Two  or  three  men 
were  stretched  out  on  the  ground  before  a  cheer- 
ful fire,  resting  after  the  labors  of  the  day,  while 
others  were  coming  in  from  the  woods — some 
loaded  with  water- fowl,  some  with  fish,  and  the 
two  who  brought  up  the  rear  were  staggering 
under  the  weight  of  a  fine  deer  they  had  shot. 
Archie  often  wondered  where  that  camp  could 
have  been  located.  He  did  not  believe  there 
was  a  place  in  the  United  States  where  game 
of  all  kinds  was  as  abundant  as  the  hunters  in 
the  picture  found  it. 

Paintings  of  this  character  occupied  promi- 


FRANK'S  NEW  HOME.  27 

nent  places  on  the  walls  of  the  room,  and  be- 
tween them  hung  numerous  relics  the  boys  had 
collected  during  their  journey  across  the  prairie, 
and  a  few  trophies  of  their  skill  as  hunters. 
Over  the  door  were  the  antlers  of  the  first  and 
only  elk  they  had  killed,  and  upon  them  hung 
a  string  of  grizzly  bear's  claws,  which  had  once 
been  worn  as  a  necklace  by  an  Indian  chief,  and 
also  a  bow,  a  quiver  full  of  arrows,  a  stone 
tomahawk,  and  a  scalping-knife — all  of  which 
had  been  presented  to  them  by  Captain  Porter. 
At  the  head  of  the  bed  were  two  pairs  of  deer's 
horns  fastened  to  the  wall,  and  supporting  their 
rifles,  bullet-pouches,  powder-horns,  and  hunt- 
ing-knives. 

These  articles  were  all  highly  prized  by  the 
boys;  but,  upon  a  nail  driven  into  the  wall  be- 
side the  book-case,  hung  something  that,  next 
to  his  horse  and  dog,  held  the  most  exalted 
place  in  Frank's  estimation.  It  was  the  rem- 
nant of  the  first  lasso  he  had  ever  owned.  He 
thought  more  of  it  than  of  any  other  article  he 
possessed,  and  he  would  have  surrendered  every 
thing,  except  Roderick  and  Marmion,  before  he 
would  have  parted  with  that  piece  of  a  raw- 


28     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

hide  rope.  It  had  once  saved  his  uncle's  life; 
and,  more  than  that,  Frank  himself  had  been 
hanged  with  it.  Yes,  as  improbable  as  it  may 
seem,  one  end  of  that  lasso  had  been  placed 
around  his  neck,  the  other  thrown  over  the 
hook  which  supported  one  of  his  large  pictures, 
and  Frank  had  been  drawn  up  until  his  toes  only 
rested  on  the  floor;  and  all  because  he  refused 
to  tell  where  he  had  hidden  a  key.  "Where 
the  rest  of  the  lasso  was  he  did  not  know 
The  last  time  he  saw  it,  it  was  around  the  neck 
of  a  man  who  was  running  through  the  grove 
at  the  top  of  his  speed,  with  Marmion  close  at 
his  heels.  The  dog  came  back,  but  the  man 
and  the  piece  of  lasso  did  not ;  and  this  brings 
us  to  our  story. 


TWELVE   THOUSAND   DOLLARS.  29 


CHAPTER  III. 

TWELVE  THOUSAND   DOLLARS. 

/""iXE  day,  about  six  weeks  before  the  com- 
mencement  of  our  story,  Frank  and  Archie 
were  sent  to  San  Diego  on  business  for  Uncle 
James.  When  they  returned,  they  found  a  new 
face  among  the  Rancheros — that  of  Pierre  Cos- 
tello,  a  man  for  whom  Frank  at  once  conceived 
a  violent  dislike.  Pierre  was  a  full-blooded 
Mexican,  dark-browed,  morose,  and  sinister- 
looking,  and  he  had  a  pair  of  small,  black  eyes 
that  were  never  still,  but  constantly  roving 
about,  as  if  on  the  lookout  for  something.  His 
appearance  was  certainly  forbidding;  but  that 
was  not  the  reason  why  Frank  disliked  him. 
It  was  because  Marmion  regarded  him  with 
suspicion,  and  seemed  to  think  he  had  no  busi- 
ness on  the  rancho.  When  the  Ranchero  came 
about  the  house,  Marmion  would  follow  him 
wiierever  he  went,  as  if  he  feared  that  the  man 


30  FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

was  about  to  attempt  some  mischief;  and,  when 
Pierre  returned  to  his  quarters,  the  dog  always 
seemed  to  be  immensely  relieved.  Frank  inva- 
riably made  common  cause  with  his  favorites, 
whether  they  belonged  to  the  human  or  brute 
creation,  and  without  taking  the  trouble  to  in- 
quire into  the  merits  of  the  case;  and,  when  he 
found  how  matters  stood  between  Pierre  and 
Marmion,  he  at  once  espoused  the  cause  of  his 
dog,  and  hated  the  Ranchero  as  cordially  as 
though  the  latter  had  done  him  some  terrible 
injury,  although  the  man  had  never  spoken  to 
him,  except  to  salute  him  very  respectfully 
every  Lion;  they  met. 

TIi'il  I  ierre  hated  and  feared  the  dog,  quite 
as  DHuJ  as  the  animal  disliked  him,  was  evi- 
dent. He  would  scowl,  and  say  "  Carrajo" 
evory  time  Marmion  came  near  him,  and  lay 
his  li{  n<l  on  his  knife,  as  if  it  would  have  af- 
foiilo  I  him  infinite  pleasure  could  he  have 
fou i MI  an  opportunity,  to  draw  it  across  the 
do"'?  throat.  Frank  had  often  noticed  this, 
and  Consequently,  when  he  one  day  came  sud- 
denly upon  the  dog,  which  was  looking  wist- 
fully at  a  piece  of  meat  Pierre  was  holding  out 


TWELVE   THOUSAND   DOLLARS.  31 

to  him,  he  was  astonished,  and  not  a  little 
alarmed.  The  Mexican  scowled,  as  he  always 
did  when  Frank  came  near  him,  and  walked 
away,  hiding  the  meat  under  his  coat. 

"  Give  it  to  me,  Pierre,"  said  Frank ;  "  Mar- 
mion  do  n't  like  to  be  fed  by  strangers." 

The  Ranchero  kept  on  as  if  he  were  not 
aware  that  he  had  been  spoken  to ;  and  his  con- 
duct went  a  long  way  in  confirming  the  new 
suspicions  that  had  suddenly  sprung  up  in 
Frank's  mind. 

"Uncle,"  said  he,  that  evening,  after  supper, 
as  he  joined  Mr.  Winters  and  Archie,  who  had 
seated  themselves  on  the  porch  to  enjoy  the  cool 
breeze  of  evening,  "how  long  do  you  intend 
to  keep  that  new  Ranchero  ?" 

"  As  long  as  he  will  stay,"  replied  Mr.  Win- 
ters. "  He  is  one  of  the  most  faithful  men  I 
ever  had,  and  he  is  quite  as  skillful  in  his  busi- 
ness as  either  Carlos  or  Dick." 

"He  is  a  mean  man  for  all  that,"  said 
Frank;  "he  tried  to  poison  Marmion,  to- 
day." 

"I  don't  blame  him,"  said  Archie;  "a 
meaner,  uglier  dog  I  never  saw" — 


32     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

"Now,  Archie,"  interrupted  Frank,  "I  like 
the  dog;  and  even  if  I  didn't,  I  would  keep 
him  because  he  is  a  present." 

"How  do  you  know  that  Pierre  tried  to 
poison  him?"  asked  Mr.  "Winters. 

"Why,  he  was  holding  a  piece  of  meat  out 
to  the  dog,  and  when  I  came  up  he  walked  off 
in  a  great  hurry,"  replied  Frank,  who,  when 
he  came  to  state  the  case,  found  that  it  was  not 
quite  so  strong  against  the  Ranchero  as  he  had 
at  first  supposed. 

"  He  may  have  done  all  that,  and  still  be  in- 
nocent of  any  desire  to  injure  your  favorite. 
Marmion  doesn't  like  him,  and,  no  doubt, 
Pierre  is  trying  his  best  to  make  friends 
with  him.  I'll  insure  your  dog's  life  for  a 
quarter." 

Frank  was  far  from  being  satisfied.  Some- 
how, he  did  not  like  the  scowl  he  had  often 
seen  on  Pierre's  face.  He  was  certain  that  the 
Rinchero  had  intended  to  harm  Marmion ;  but 
why?  Not  simply  because  he  hated  the  dog, 
but  for  the  reason  that  the  animal  was  in  his 
way.  This  was  the  view  Frank  took  of  the 
case;  and,  believing  that  Pierre  was  there  for 


TWELVE   THOUSAND   DOLLARS.  33 

no  good,  he  resolved  to  keep  a  close  watch  on 
all  his  movements. 

A  day  or  two  after  that,  Mr.  Winters  and 
Archie  set  out  on  horseback  for  San  Diego,  the 
former  to  collect  the  money  for  a  drove  of 
horses  he  had  sold  there,  before  his  departure 
for  the  East,  and  Archie  to  explore  the  city. 
Frank,  .  hourly  expecting  his  two  friends, 
Johnny  Harris  and  Dick  Thomas,  who  had 
promised  to  spend  a  week  with  him,  remained 
at  home,  with  the  housekeeper  and  two  of  the 
Rancheros,  one  of  whom  was  Pierre,  for  com- 
pany. Dick  and  Bob,  and  the  rest  of  the 
herdsmen,  were  off  somewhere,  attending  to 
the  stock. 

Frank,  being  left  to  himself,  tried  various 
plans  for  his  amusement.  He  read  a  few  pages 
in  half  a  dozen  different  books,  took  a  short 
gallop  over  the  prairie,  shot  a  brace  of  quails 
for  his  dinner;  all  the  while  keeping  a  bright 
lookout  for  his  expected  visitors,  who,  how- 
ever, did  not  make  their  appearance.  About 
noon,  he  was  gratified  by  hearing  the  sound  of 
a  horse's  hoofs  in  the  court.  He  ran  out,  ex- 
pecting to  welcome  Johnny  and  Dick,  but,  to 


34     FEANK  AMONG  THE  BANCHEEOS. 

his  disappointment,  encountered  a  stranger, 
who  reined  up  his  horse  at  the  door,  and  in- 
quired : 

"  Is  this  Mr.  Winters's  rancho,  young  man?  " 

Frank  replied  that  it  was. 

"He  is  at  home,  I  suppose?"  continued  the 
visitor. 

"No,  sir;  he  started  for  the  city  early  thia 
morning." 

The  gentleman  said  that  was  very  unfor- 
tunate, and  began  to  make  inquiries  concern- 
ing the  road  Mr.  Winters  generally  traveled 
when  he  went  to  San  Diego — whether  he  took 
the  upper  or  lower  trail — and  then  he  wondered 
what  he  should  do. 

"  My  name  is  Brown,"  said  he ;  and  Frank 
knew  he  was  the  very  man  his  uncle  expected 
to  meet  in  San  Diego.  "  I  owe  Mr.  Winters 
some  money  for  a  drove  of  horses  I  bought  of 
him  before  he  went  to  the  States,  and  I  have 
come  up  to  pay  it.  I  have  here  twelve  thou- 
sand dollars  in  gold,"  he  added,  laying  his 
hand  on  his  saddle-bags,  which  seemed  to  be 
heavy  and  well  filled. 

"  Could  n't  you  remain   until   day  after  to- 


TWELVE   THOUSAND    DOLLARS.  35 

morrow?"  asked  Frank.     "Uncle  James  will 
be  at  home  then." 

"I  can't  spare  the  time.  I  am  on  my  way 
to  Fort  Yuma,  where  I  have  some  business  to 
transact  that  may  detain  me  three  or  four  daya. 
I  don't  like  to  carry  this  money  there  and  back, 
for  it  is  heavy,  and  there  is  no  knowing  what 
sort  of  travelers  one  may  meet  on  the  road. 
Would  n't  it  be  all  right  if  I  should  leave  it 
here  with  you  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Frank,  eager  to  accept  the 
responsibility;  "I  can  take  care  of  it.  But  I 
thought  you  might  want  a  receipt." 

"  I  am  not  particular  about  that.  Mr.  Win- 
ters has  trusted  me  for  about  six  months,  and  I 
think  I  can  afford  to  trust  him  for  as  many 
days.  I  '11  call  and  get  the  receipt  when  I  come 
back." 

As  Mr.  Brown  said  this,  he  dismounted,  and 
Pierre,  who,  ever  since  his  employer's  departure, 
had  seemed  to  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  loiter 
about  the  house,  and  who  had  stood  at  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  c  )urt,  listening  to  every  word 
of  the  conversation,  came  up  to  hold  his  horse. 
The  visitor  shouldered  his  saddle-bags,  and  fol- 


36     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

lowed  Frank  into  a  room  which  went  by  the 
name  of  "  the  office,"  where  Mr.  "Winters  trans- 
acted all  his  business.  The  room  was  furnished 
with  a  high  desk,  a  three-legged  stool,  and  a 
small  safe,  which,  like  those  in  banks,  was  set 
into  the  wall,  so  that  nothing  but  the  door  could 
be  seen. 

"That  is  just  the  place  for  it,"  said  Mr. 
Brown ;  "  it  will  be  secure  there." 

f'But  I  haven't  got  the  key,"  replied  Frank; 
"  uncle  always  carries  it  in  his  pocket." 

"Well,  I  don't  suppose  there  would  be  any 
danger  if  you  were  to  leave  the  money  on  the 
porch.  Of  course,  your  hired  people  can  be 
depended  on,  or  your  uncle  wouldn't  keep 
them." 

Frank  thought  there  was  at  least  one  person 
on  the  rancho  who  could  not  be  trusted  to  any 
great  extent;  but,  of  course,  he  said  nothing 
about  it.  He  glanced  around  the  room,  won- 
dering what  he  should  do  with  the  money,  when 
he  discovered  that  his  uncle  had  left  the  key  of 
the  desk  in  the  lock.  For  want  of  a  better 
place,  Frank  decided  to  put  the  gold  in  there. 
Mr.  Brown  took  it  out  of  his  saddle-bags,  and 


TWELVE  THOUSAND   DOLLARS.  37 

packed  it  away  in  the  drawer — six  bags  in  all, 
eac  a  containing  two  thousand  dollars,  in  bright, 
new  "yellow-boys."  Then,  declining  Frank's 
invitation  to  stay  to  dinner,  the  gentleman  bade 
him  good-by,  mounted  his  horse,  and  resumed 
his  journey. 

"  Twelve  thousand  dollars !"  said  Frank,  to 
himself,  as  he  locked  the  desk  and  put  the  key 
into  his  pocket.  "Why,  that's  a  fortune! 
Now  that  I  think  of  it,  I  almost  wish  Mr. 
Brown  had  n't  left  it  here.  What  would  Uncle 
James  say  if  somebody  should  break  into  the 
house  and  steal  it  ?" 

As  Frank  asked  himself  this  question,  he 
turned  suddenly,  and  saw  Pierre  standing  on 
the  porch,  in  front  of  one  of  the  windows, 
watching  him  with  eager  eyes.  He  must  have 
moved  very  quietly  to  have  approached  so  near 
without  attracting  the  boy's  attention,  and  that, 
to  Frank,  whose  suspicions  had  already  been 
thoroughly  aroused,  was  good  evidence  that  the 
Ranch ero  was  not  just  what  he  ought  to  be.  If 
he  was  an  honest  man,  he  would  not  try  to 
Blip  around  without  making  any  noise. 

Finding  that  he  was  discovered,  Pierre  re- 


38    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

moved  his  sombrero  and  said,  without  the  least 
embarrassment : 

"  Is  it  your  pleasure  to  ride  ?  If  so,  I  will 
saddle  your  horse." 

"You  need  not  trouble  yourself,''*  replied 
Frank,  rather  gruffly.  "  I  shall  remain  at 
home." 

Pierre  bowed  and  walked  away. 

"Now,  that  rascal  thinks  he  is  sharp,"  said 
Frank,  gazing  after  the  Ranchero.  "  He  never 
offered  to  saddle  my  horse  before,  and  he 
would  n't  have  done  it  then  if  I  had  n't  caught 
him  looking  in  at  the  window.  I  wonder  if  he 
thinks  I  am  foolish  enough  to  ride  for  pleasure 
at  this  time  of  day,  with  the  thermometer 
standing  a  hundred  degrees  in  the  shade? 
That  fellow  is  a  scoundrel,  and  he  is  up  to 
something.  Perhaps  he  is  after  this  gold.  If 
ho  is,  he  may  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  he  won't  get  it." 

So  saying,  Frank  began  to  close  and  fasten 
the  shutters  which  protected  the  windows,  and 
while  thus  engaged,  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
Ranchero's  dark  face  peering  at  him  around  the 
corner  of  the  house. 


TWELVE   THOUSAND    DOLLARS.  39 

•'If  I  owned  this  ranch,"  said  Frank,  to 
himself,  "that  fellow  shouldn't  stay  here  five 
minutes  longer.  I  'd  pay  him  off,  and  tell  him 
to  leave  as  fast  as  his  horse  could  carry  him." 

Having  satisfied  himself  that  the  windows 
were  so  well  secured  that  no  one  could  effect 
an  entrance  through  them,  Frank  opened  the 
drawer  and  took  another  good  look  at  the 
money,  as  if  he  were  afraid  that  it  might  have 
been  spirited  away  even  while  he  was  in  the 
room ;  after  which  he  locked  the  desk,  and  hid 
the  key  under  the  edge  of  the  carpet.  Then 
glancing  about  the  office,  to  make  sure  that 
every  thing  was  safe,  he  closed  the  door,  and 
hurrying  into  his  own  room,  he  threw  the  key 
under  his  writing-desk,  next  to  the  wall. 
Then  he  breathed  easier.  The  money  was  aa 
safe  as  it  would  have  been  in  the  bank  at  San 
Dio^o. 


40    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEBOS 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FRANK  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HERO. 

"  rriHERE  I"  said  Frank,  with  something  like 
-*-     a  sigh  of  relief.     "  If  Pierre  gets   into 
that  office  to-night,  he  '11  have  to  use  an  ax ; 
and  if  he  tries  that" — 

Frank  finished  the  sentence  by  shaking  his 
head  in  a  threatening  manner,  and  taking 
down  his  rifle,  which  he  proceeded  to  load  very 
carefully.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  to  fight, 
if  it  should  become  necessary. 

He  was  now  more  anxious  than  ever  for  the 
arrival  of  his  two  friends,  for  he  did  not  like 
the  idea  of  remaining  alone  in  the  house  all 
night,  with  so  much  money  under  his  charge, 
and  a  villainous-looking  Mexican  hovering 
about.  Frank,  as  we  know,  was  very  far  from 
being  a  coward;  but  having  by  some  means  gol 
it  into  his  head  that  Pierre  was  a  rascal,  and 
that  something  unpleasant  would  happen  be- 


FRANK  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HERO.    41 

fore  morning,  he  could  not  help  feeling  rather 
anxious. 

The  afternoon  wore  slowly  away,  but  Johnny 
and  Dick  did  not  make  their  appearance. 
Darkness  came  on  apace,  and  Frank,  being  at 
last  satisfied  that  he  was  to  be  left  alone  in  his 
glory  for  that  night  at  least,  ate  his  supper, 
and  visited  Roderick  in  his  stable  to  see  that 
he  was  well  provided  for,  and  then  whistled  for 
his  dog,  which  he  had  not  seen  since  the  de- 
parture of  Mr.  Brown.  Marmion,  however, 
did  not  respond  to  the  call.  Frank  whistled 
and  shouted  several  times  in  vain,  and  then 
set  out  to  hunt  up  his  favorite.  He  visited 
the  Rancheros'  quarters,  and  found  Felix  and 
Pierre  sitting  in  the  door  of  one  of  the  cabins, 
smoking  their  cigarettes.  The  former  had  not 
seen  the  dog ;  but,  willing  to  serve  Frank  to 
any  extent  in  his  power,  offered  to  go  in  search 
of  the  animal.  Pierre,  however,  said  that 
would  be  useless,  for  he  had  seen  Marmion  in 
hot  pursuit  of  a  rabbit.  No  doubt  he  had  driven 
the  game  into  its  burrow,  and  was  engaged  in 
digging  it  out.  When  he  caught  the  rabbit,  he 
would  come  home  of  his  own  free  will. 


42     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

Although  Frank  was  suspicious  of  every 
tiling  Pierre  said  or  did,  he  could  see  no  reason 
for  disbelieving  this  story.  Marraion  was  quite 
as  fond  of  the  chase  as  his  young  master,  and 
frequently  indulged  in  hunting  expeditions  an 
his  own  responsibility;  sometimes  being  absent 
all  day  and  nearly  all  night.  But  he  was  not 
off  hunting  then,  and  Pierre  had  told  a  delib- 
erate falsehood,  when  he  said  that  he  had  seen 
him  in  pursuit  of  a  rabbit.  The  Ranch ero  had 
determined  upon  a  course  of  action  which  he 
knew  he  could  not  follow  out  so  long  as  the  dog 
was  at  liberty,  and  Marmion  was,  at  that  very 
moment,  lying  bound  and  muzzled  under  one 
of  the  corn-cribs,  almost  within  hearing  of  his 
master's  voice. 

Frank  slowly  retraced  his  steps  toward  the 
house,  feeling  more  nervous  and  uneasy  than 
ever.  In  Marmion  he  had  an  ally  that  could 
be  depended  on  in  any  emergency;  and,  if  the 
dog  had  been  at  his  side,  he  would  have  felt 
perfectly  safe.  But  he  was  not  the  one  to  in- 
dulge long  in  gloomy  thoughts  without  a  cause, 
and  in  order  to  drive  them  away,  he  lighted  his 
lamp,  and,  drawing  his  easy-chair  upon  the 


FRANK   PROVES   HIMSELF   A    HERO.         43 

porch,  amused  himself  until  nine  o'clock  with 
his  guitar.  The  music  not  only  served  to 
soothe  his  troubled  feelings,  but  also  had  the 
effect  of  banishing  his  suspicions  to  a  great 
extent,  and  left  him  in  a  much  more  cheerful 
frame  of  mind. 

"  How  foolish  I  have  been,"  said  he,  to  him- 
self. "  Because  Pierre  is  ugly,  like  all  the  rest 
of  his  race,  and  because  he  always  carries  a 
knife  in  his  belt,  and  hates  Marmion,  I  have 
been  willing  to  believe  him  capable  of  any  vil- 
lainy. I  do  n't  suppose  he  has  thought  of  that 
gold  since  he  saw  me  lock  it  up." 

As  Frank  said  this,  he  pulled  his  chair  into 
the  room,  and  selecting  Cooper's  "Last  of  the 
Mohicans"  from  the  numerous  volumes  in  the 
library,  he  dismissed  all  thoughts  of  the  Ran- 
chero,  and  sat  down  to  read  until  he  should 
become  sleepy.  He  soon  grew  so  deeply  inter- 
ested in  his  book,  that  he  did  not  hear  the  light 
etep  that  sounded  on  the  porch,  nor  did  he  see 
the  dark,  glittering  eyes  which  looked  steadily  at 
him  through  the  open  window.  He  saw  them 
a  moment  afterward,  howrever,  for,  while  he  was 
absorbed  in  that  paiticular  part  of  the  fight  at 


44    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

Glen's  Falls,  where  Hawk-Eye  snapped  his 
unloaded  rifle  at  the  Indian  who  was  making 
off  with  the  canoe  in  which  the  scout  had  left 
his  ammunition,  a  figure  glided  quickly  but 
noiselessly  into  the  room,  and  stopped  behind 
the  boy's  chair. 

"Now,  my  opinion  is  that  Hawk-Eye  was 
not  much  of  a  backwoodsman,  after  all,"  said 
Frank,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  comment- 
ing upon  and  criticising  every  thing  he  read. 
"  Why  did  he  leave  his  extra  powder-horn  in  his 
canoe,  when  he  knew  that  the  Hurons  were  all 
around  him  ?  You  would  n't  catch  Dick  or 
old  Bob  Kelly  in  any  such  scrape,  nor  me 
either,  for  that  matter,  for  I  would  " — 

Frank's  soliloquy  was  brought  to  a  close  very 
suddenly,  and  what  he  was  about  to  say  must 
forever  remain  a  secret.  His  throat  was  seized 
with  an  iron  grasp,  and  he  was  lifted  bodily 
out  of  his  chair,  and  thrown  upon  the  floor. 
So  quickly  was  it  done  that  he  had  no  time  to 
resist  or  to  cry  out.  Before  he  could  realize 
what  had  happened,  he  found  himself  lying 
flat  on  his  back,  and  felt  a  heavy  weight  upon 
his  breast  holding  him  down. 


FRANK  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HERO.    45 

Filled  with  surprise  and  indignation,  he 
looked  up  into  the  face  that  was  bending  over 
him,  and  recognized  Pierre  Costello,  whose 
features  wore  a  fiendish  expression,  the  effect 
of  which  was  heightened  by  a  murderous-look- 
ing knife  which  he  carried  between  his  teeth. 
Scowling  fiercely,  as  if  he  were  trying  to  strike 
terror  to  the  boy's  heart  by  his  very  appear- 
ance, he  loosened  his  grasp  on  Frank's  throat, 
and  the  latter,  after  coughing  and  swallowing 
to  overcome  the  effects  of  the  choking  he  had 
received,  demanded : 

"  What  do  you  mean,  you  villain  ?" 
Pierre,  without  making  any  reply,  coolly 
proceeded  to  overhaul  the  contents  of  Frank's 
pockets.  Like  all  boys  of  his  age,  our  hero 
was  supplied  with  a  variety  of  articles,  which, 
however  serviceable  they  may  be  to  a  youngster 
of  sixteen,  no  one  else  could  possibly  find  use 
for,  and  the  Ranchero's  investigations  brought 
to  light  a  fish-line,  bait-box,  a  rooster's  spur, 
of  which  Frank  intended  to  make  a  charger  for 
his  rifle,  a  piece  of  buckskin,  half  a  dozen  bul- 
lets, a  brass  cannon,  a  pocket  comb,  a  quill 
pop-gun,  a  small  compass,  a  silver  ring,  a 


46     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

match-box,  a  jack-knife,  and  a  piece  of  lead. 
These  articles  he  tossed  upon  the  floor,  rather 
contemptuously,  and  then  turned  all  Frank's 
pockets  inside  out,  but  failed  to  discover  any 
thing  more. 

"Where  are  they?"  demanded  Pierre,  re- 
moving the  knife  from  his  mouth,  and  looking 
savagely  at  his  prisoner,  who  all  this  time  had 
lain  perfectly  still  upon  the  floor,  apparently 
not  the  least  alarmed. 

"Where  are  what?"  inquired  Frank. 

"  The  keys,  you  young  vagabond  !"  returned 
the  Ranchero,  astonished  at  the  result  of  his 
search,  and  in  a  great  hurry  to  get  through 
with  his  business.  "The  keys  that  open  the 
office  and  the  safe.  Speak  quick !" 

"The  safe  key  is  where  you;ll  never  get  your 
hands  upon  it,"  replied  Frank.  "  If  you  want 
it,  you  '11  have  to  go  to  San  Diego,  catch  Uncle 
James,  and  throw  him  down,  as  you  did  me, 
and  search  his  pockets  for  it.  But  that  is 
eomething  a  dozen  such  fellows  as  you  could  n't 
ao." 

"  But  the  office  key !     Where 's  that  ?  " 

"  It 's  in  a  safe  place,  also,"  said  Frank,  who 


FRANK  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HERO.    47 

had  already  resolved  that  the  would-be  robter 
should  never  learn  from  him  where  he  had  hi  el- 
ded the  key.  "  If  I  were  a  man,  I  should  like 
to  see  you  hold  me  down  so  easily.  Let  me  up, 
or  I '11  call  for  help!" 

"  If  you  speak  above  your  breath,  I  '11  choke 
you!"  said  Pierre,  with  savage  emphasis.  "I 
am  not  done  with  you  yet!  Is  the  money  in 
the  safe?" 

"  That 's  none  of  your  business !  Let  me  up, 
I  say  !  Here,  Marmion  !  Marmion !" 

"  Carrajo  /"  muttered  the  Ranchero,  again 
seizing  his  prisoner's  throat  in  his  powerful  fin- 
gers. "  Do  you  want  me  to  kill  you  ?  " 

Frank,  nothing  daunted  by  this  rough  treat- 
ment, struggled  manfully,  and  tried  hard  to 
make  a  defiant  reply,  but  could  not  utter  a 
sound.  Pierre  tightened  his  grasp,  until  it 
seemed  as  if  he  had  deliberately  resolved  to 
send  him  out  of  the  world  altogether,  and  then 
released  his  hold,  and  waited  until  Frank  waa 
able  to  speak  before  he  said  : 

"  You  see  that  I  am  in  earnest !  Now,  an- 
swer me  !  Is  the  gold  in  the  safe  ?  " 

"I  am  in  earnest,  too!"  replied  Frank,  as 


48     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

bravely  as  ever.  "  I  shall  not  tell  you  where 
it  is.  Are  you  going  to  let  me  up?" 

"  I  am  going  to  make  you  tell  where  you 
have  put  that  key !  "  said  Pierre,  as  he  removed 
the  sash  his  prisoner  wore  around  his  waist,  and 
began  to  confine  his  arms  behind  his  back. 
"  If  I  once  get  inside  the  office,  I'll  soon  find 
out  where  you  have  put  that  gold." 

"But  you  are  not  inside  the  office  yet,  and  I 
do  n't  think  you  will  get  there  very  soon.  If 
you  were  well  acquainted  with  me,  you  would 
know  that  you  can  not  drive  me  one  inch. 
You're  a  coward,  Pierre,"  he  added,  as  he  re- 
leased one  of  his  hands  by  a  sudden  jerk,  and 
made  a  desperate  but  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
seize  the  ruffian  by  the  hair.  "  You  do  n't  give 
a  fellow  a  fair  chance.  I  wish  my  dog  was 
here." 

"You  need  not  look  for  him,"  said  the 
Ranchero ;  "  he  '11  never  come." 

Frank  made  no  reply.  He  was  wondering 
what  his  captor  intended  to  do  with  him,  and 
turning  over  in  his  mind  numerous  wild  plans 
for  escape.  Pierre,  in  his  haste,  was  tying  the 
sash  in  a  very  clumsy  manner,  and  Frank  waa 


FRANK  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HERO.    49 

certain  that,  with  one  vigorous  twist,  he  could 
set  himself  at  liberty.  In  spite  of  his  un- 
pleasant and  even  painful  situation — for,  after 
his  attempt  to  catch  the  Ranchero  by  the  hair, 
the  latter  had  turned  him  upon  his  face,  and 
was  kneeling  upon  him  to  hold  him  down — he 
could  not  help  chuckling  to  himself  when  he 
thought  how  he  would  astonish  Pierre  if  he  did 
not  mind  what  he  was  about. 

"  Perhaps  he  will  leave  me,  and  try  to  force 
an  entrance  into  the  office,"  soliloquized  Frank. 
"  If  he  does,  I  am  all  right !  I  '11  jerk  my 
arms  out  of  this  sash,  pick  up  that  rifle,  and 
the  first  thing  Mr.  Pierre  Costello  knows, 
he'll  be  the  prisoner.  I'll  march  him  to  the 
quarters,  and  tell  Felix  to  tie  him,  hand  and 
foot." 

Unfortunately  for  the  success  of  these  plans, 
the  Ranchero  did  not  leave  the  room  after  he 
had  tied  Frank's  arms.  He  was  too  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  old  house  to  think  of  trying 
to  force  an  entrance  into  the  office.  He  knew 
that  the  doors  and  window-shutters  were  as 
strong  as  wood  and  iron  could  make  them,  and 
that  it  would  be  a  dangerous  piece  of  business 
4 


50  FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCH  EROS. 

to  attempt  to  break  them  open.  Felix,  all  ui> 
conscious  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  house, 
snored  lustily  in  his  quarters,  and  the  house- 
keeper slept  in  a  room  adjoining  the  kitchen; 
and  if  Pierre  awakened  either  of  them,  he 
might  bid  good-by  to  all  hopes  of  ever  securing 
possession  of  the  gold.  His  only  hope  was  in 
compelling  Frank  to  tell  where  he  had  put  the 
office  key. 

"  Now,  then,"  said  he,  "  I  will  give  you  one 
more  chance.  Where  is  it  ?  " 

"Where's  what?"  asked  Frank. 

"  The  office  key !"  exclaimed  the  Ranchero, 
enraged  at  the  coolness  of  his  prisoner.  "  Tell 
me  where  it  is,  or  I  '11  drive  you  through  the 
floor!" 

As  he  said  this,  he  raised  his  fist  over  Frank's 
head,  as  if  he  were  on  the  point  of  putting  his 
threat  into  execution. 

"Drive  away!"  replied  Frank. 

"Then  you  won't  tell  me  where  it  is?"  yelled 
the  Ranchero. 

"No,  I  won't!  And  when  I  say  no,  I 
mean  it;  and  all  the  threats  you  can  make 
won't  scare  me  into  saying  any  thing  else !" 


FRANK   PROVES   HIMSELF   A    HERO.         51 

Pierre  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  jumped 
to  his  feet,  his  actions  indicating  that  he  was 
determined  to  waste  no  more  words.  He  placed 
his  knife  upon  the  table,  closed  the  windows, 
and  dropped  the  curtains,  so  that  any  one  who 
might  happen  to  pass  by  could  not  see  what 
was  going  on  in  the  room.  His  next  action 
was  to  seize  Frank  by  the  collar  of  his  jacket, 
and  pull  him  roughly  to  his  feet,  preparatory  to 
putting  into  operation  his  new  plan  for  com- 
pelling him  to  tell  where  he  had  hidden  the 
office  key. 

"  If  you  conclude  to  answer  my  question,  let 
me  know  it,"  said  the  Rauchero. 

"  I  will,"  was  Frank's  reply. 

Pierre  stepped  upon  a  chair,  and  removing 
one  of  the  pictures  from  its  hook,  tossed  it 
upon  the  bed.  After  that,  he  took  Frank's 
lasso  down  from  the  nail,  beside  the  book-case, 
and  holding  the  noose  in  his  hand,  threw  the 
other  end  over  the  hook. 

Frank  had  thus  far  shown  himself  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  a  good  share  of  courage.  He  had 
bravely  endured  the  choking,  and  had  made  de- 
fiant replies  to  all  Pierre's  threats ;  but  when 


62  FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

he  saw  this  movement,  he  became  thoroughly 
alarmed.  He  knew  what  was  coming. 

"Aha!"  exclaimed  the  Ranchero,  who  had 
not  failed  to  notice  the  sudden  pallor  that  over- 
spread the  boy's  countenance;  "Aha!" 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  asked  Frank, 
in  a  trembling  voice. 

"  Can't  you  see  ?  "  returned  the  Ranchero, 
with  a  savage  smile.  "  I  told  you  that  I  was 
going  to  make  you  tell  me  where  you  had  put 
that  office  key,  did  n't  I  ?  Well,  I  intend  to  do 
it.  I  have  tamed  many  a  wild  colt,  and  I  know 
how  to  tame  you !" 

As  he  spoke,  he  adroitly  threw  the  noose 
over  Frank's  head,  and  drew  it  tight  around  his 
neck.  Then,  seizing  him  by  the  shoulders,  he 
pushed  him  against  the  wall,  under  the  hook, 
and  pulled  down  on  the  lasso,  until  Frank  "»e- 
gan  to  rise  on  his  toes.  This  was  intended 
merely  to  give  him  a  foretaste  of  what  was  in 
fitore  for  him. 

"Now  you  know  how  it  feels,"  said  Pierre, 
slackening  up  on  the  rope,  "  and  you  ought  to 
know,  by  this  time,  that  I  am  not  playing  with 
you.  I  am  in  sober  earnest,  and  if  you  don't 


FRANK  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HERO.    63 

answer    my    question,    I'll    hang    you,    right 
here  in  your  own  room,  and  with  your  own 
lasso.      This   is  your   last   chance !     Where  'a 
that  key?" 
Frank  hesitated. 


54  FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHERO8. 


CHAPTER  V, 

THE   FIGHT    IN    THE   COURT. 

T?RANK  was  certainly  in  a  predicament.  He 
•*•  had  his  choice  between  revealing  the  hiding- 
place  of  the  office  key,  and  being  hanged  with 
his  own  lasso — a  most  disagreeable  alternative. 
On  one  side  was  a  lingering  death,  and  on  the 
other,  something  of  which  Frank  stood  almost 
as  much  in  awe — disgrace.  Never  before  had 
so  heavy  a  responsibility  rested  upon  him ;  and 
if  he  lost  that  money,  what  other  evidence 
would  be  needed  to  prove  that  he  was  not 
worthy  of  being  trusted  ? 

"  Como,  come!"  exclaimed  the  Ranchero,  im- 
patiently. "Are  you  going  to  answer  my  ques- 
tion?" 

tf  I  do  n't  know  whether  I  am  or  not,"  replied 
Frank.  "Don't  be  in  such  a  hurry.  Can't 
you  give  me  time  to  think  about  it?" 

"You    have    had    time    enough    already," 


THE    FIGHT    IN  THE   COURT.  55 

growled  Pierre.  "But  I'll  give  you  two  min- 
utes more,  and  while  you  are  thinking  the 
matter  over,  you  can  bear  one  thing  in  min.l : 
and  that  is,  if  you  do  n't  tell  me  where  that 
office  key  is,  you'll  never  see  daylight  again." 

The  expression  on  Pierre's  countenance  told 
Frank  that  the  villain  meant  all  he  said. 

Frank  leaned  his  head  against  the  wall,  closed 
his  eyes,  and  made  use  of  those  two  minutes  in 
trying  to  conjure  up  some  plan  to  defeat  the 
robber.  He  had  not  the  slightest  intention  of 
allowing  him  to  put  his  hands  on  that  money 
if  it  were  possible  for  him  to  prevent  it,  and  he 
was  wondering  if  he  could  not  make  use  of  a 
little  strategy.  If  he  could  invent  some  excuse 
to  get  Pierre  out  of  the  room  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, he  was  sure  that  he  could  release  his 
hands.  Would  it  not  be  a  good  plan  to  tell 
him  where  he  had  hidden  the  key,  and  while 
Pierre  was  in  the  office  searching  for  the  gold, 
free  himself  from  his  bonds,  and  seize  his  rifle, 
and  make  the  villain  a  prisoner?  Would  n't 
it  be  a  glorious  exploit,  one  of  which  he  could 
be  justly  proud,  if  he  could  save  the  twelve 
thousand  dollars,  and  capture  the  Ranchero  be- 


56    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

sides?  Frank  thought  it  would,  and  deter- 
mined to  try  it. 

"  Pierre,"  said  he,  "  if  I  tell  you  where  that 
key  is,  what  will  you  do  ?" 

"If!"  exclaimed  the  Ranchero;  "there  are 
no  ifs  or  ands  about  it.  You  must  tell  me 
where  it  is." 

"  But  what  I  want  to  know  is,  what  will  you 
do  with  me?" 

"I  promise  you,  upon  the  honor  of  a  gentle- 
man, that  no  harm  shall  be  done  you." 

"  Gentleman ! "  sneered  Frank.  "  The  State's 
prison  is  full  of  such  gentlemen  as  you  are.  If 
I  were  trying  to  rob  a  man  of  a  few  cents,  I  'd 
never  think  of  calling  myself  a  gentleman." 

"Now,  just  look  here,"  said  Pierre,  "if  you 
think  you  can  fool  me,  you  were  never  more 
mistaken  in  your  life.  A  few  cents,  indeed! 
I  heard  all  that  passed  between  you  and  Mr. 
Brown,  and  I  know  that  there  are  twelve 
thousand  dollars  somewhere  in  that  office.  I 
call  it  a  fortune.  It  is  much  more  than  I  could 
ever  earn  herding  cattle,  and  I  am  bound  to 
have  it.  Where  's  that  key?" 

"You  must  answer  my  question  first,"  said 


THE   FIGHT  IN  THfc   COURT.  57 

Frank.  "  If  you  had  the  key  in  your  hand 
now,  what  would  you  do  with  me?" 

"  Well,  as  I  am  not  fool  enough  to  give  you 
the  least  chance  for  escape,  the  first  thing  I 
should  do  would  be  to  tie  you  hard  and  fast 
to  that  bed-post.  Then  I  Jd  take  the  gold, 
mount  my  horse,  and  be  off  to  the  mountains." 

"  And  leave  me  tied  up  here  ?"  exclaimed  the 
prisoner. 

"  Exactly.  Felix,  or  the  housekeeper,  would 
release  you  in  the  morning." 

This  answer  came  upon  Frank  like  a  bucket 
of  cold  water.  His  fine  plan  for  releasing  him- 
self and  capturing  the  robber  would  not  work. 
The  latter  saw  his  look  of  disappointment,  and 
laughed  derisively. 

"I  am  too  old,"  said  he,  "to  allow  a  boy 
like  you  to  play  any  tricks  upon  me.  You 
won't  tell  me  where  the  key  is,  then  ? " 

"  No,  I  won't.  If  that  money  was  mine,  you 
might  take  it,  and  I  would  run  the  risk  of 
catching  you  before  you  could  get  very  far 
away  with  it.  But  it  belongs  to  my  uncle;  you 
have  no  claim  upon  it,  and,  what  }s  more,  you 
sha'n't  touch  it." 


58    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

"Is  that  your  final  answer?"  asked  the  Ran- 
chero,  bracing  himself  for  a  strong  pull.  "  You 
had  better  ponder  the  matter  well  before  you 
decide.  What"  do  you  suppose  your  uncle  will 
think,  when  he  comes  home  and  finds  you  hang- 
ing to  this  hook?  He  had  rather  lose  the 
money  a  thousand  times  over  than  to  part  with 
you." 

Frank  shuddered  as  the  Ranchero  said  this, 
and,  for  the  first  time,  he  felt  his  firmness  giv- 
ing away.  But  he  was  possessed  of  no  ordi- 
nary degree  of  fortitude,  and,  after  a  momen- 
tary thrill  of  terror,  his  courage  returned,  and 
he  looked  at  Pierre  as  bravely  as  ever. 

The  Ranch ero  paused  for  a  moment  or  two, 
to  give  his  last  words  time  to  have  their  full 
effect,  and  then  said :  "  Once  more — yes  or  no." 

"  No,  I  tell  you,"  was  the  firm  reply.  Scarcely 
were  the  words  out  of  his  mouth,  when  the 
Ranchero  began  to  pull  down  upon  the  lasso, 
and  Frank,  in  spite  of  his  desperate  struggles, 
was  drawn  up  until  he  almost  swung  clear  of 
the  floor.  Pierre  held  him  in  this  position  for 
a  few  seconds — it  seemed  an  age  to  Frank,  who 
retained  his  consciousness  all  the  while — and 


THE   FIGHT   IN   THE   COURT.  59 

then  gradually  slackened  up  on  the  lasso,  until 
his  prisoner's  feet  once  more  rested  firmly  on  the 
floor.  Frank  reeled  a  moment  like  a  drunken 
man,  gazed  about  him  with  a  bewildered  air,  and 
attempted  to  raise  his  hands  to  his  throat,  while 
the  Ranchero  stood  watching  him  with  a  smile 
of  triumph. 

"I  have  given  you  one  more  chance,"  said 
he.  "  Have  you  come  to  your  senses  yet." 

Frank  tried  in  vain  to  reply.  The  choking 
he  had  endured  had  deprived  him  of  his  power 
of  utterance,  but  it  had  not  affected  his  courage 
or  his  determination.  There  was  not  the  least 
sign  of  yielding  about  him. 

Pierre  had  thus  far  conducted  his  operations 
with  the  most  business-like  coolness,  and  in 
much  the  same  spirit  that  he  would  have  ex- 
hibited had  he  been  breaking  one  of  Mr.  Win- 
ters's  wild  horses  to  the  saddle.  He  had  smiled 
at  times,  as  he  would  have  smiled  at  the  efforts 
of  the  horse  to  escape,  and  the  thought  that 
he  should  fail  in  his  object  had  never  entered 
Lis  head.  He  had  been  certain  that  he  could 
frighten  or  torture  Frank  into  revealing  thfc 
hiding-place  of  the  office  key ;  but  new  he  be- 


60  FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

gan  to  believe  that  he  had  reckoned  without 
his  host.  He  was  astonished  and  enraged  at 
the  wonderful  firmness  displayed  by  his  pris- 
oner. He  had  never  imagined  that  this  six- 
teen-year-old boy  would  prove  an  obstacle  too 
great  to  be  overcome. 

"  You  are  the  most  obstinate  colt  I  ever  tried 
to  manage,"  said  Pierre,  in  a  voice  choked  with 
passion ;  "  but  I  '11  break  one  of  two  things — 
your  spirit  or  your  neck;  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence to  me  which." 

Without  waiting  to  give  his  prisoner  time  to 
recover  his  power  of  speech,  the  Kanchero 
wound  the  lariat  around  his  hands,  and  was 
about  to  pull  him  up  again,  when  he  was  star- 
tled by  the  clatter  of  a  horse's  hoofs  in  the  court. 

The  sound  worked  a  great  change  in  Pierre. 
As  if  by  magic,  the  savage  scowl  faded  from 
his  face,  and  he  stood  for  an  instant  the  very 
picture  of  terror.  All  thoughts  of  the  twelve 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  vengeance  he  had  de- 
termined to  wreak  upon  his  prisoner,  were  ban- 
ished from  his  mind,  and  gave  place  to  the  de- 
sire to  escape  from  the  house  as  secretly  and 
speedily  as  possible. 


THE    FIGHT   IN   THE    COURT.  61 

"Who  can  that  be?"  he  muttered,  dropping 
the  lasso,  and  throwing  a  frightened  glance 
ever  his  shoulder  toward  the  door. 

"  I  Jm  sure  I  do  n't  know,"  said  Frank, 
speaking  with  the  greatest  difficulty;  "and  1 
do  n't  care  who  it  is,  if  he  will  only  make  a 
prisoner  of  you." 

The  Ranchero  scowled  fiercely  upon  his 
plucky  captive,  hesitated  a  moment,  as  if  he 
had  half  a  mind  to  be  revenged  upon  him  be- 
fore he  left  the  house,  and  then,  catching  up 
his  knife,  and  extinguishing  the  lamp,  he 
jerked  open  one  of  the  windows,  and  disap- 
peared in  the  darkness. 

Frank  was  no  less  astonished  than  delighted 
at  his  unexpected  deliverance.  He  tried  to 
shout,  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  unknown 
horseman,  but  all  his  efforts  were  unavailing. 
His  attempts  to  release  his  hands,  however, 
which  he  commenced  the  instant  the  Ranchero 
left  the  room,  were  more  successful.  Pierre's 
carelessness  in  tying  the  knots  was  a  point  in 
his  favor  then ;  for,  in  less  time  than  it  takes 
to  record  the  fact,  Frank  was  free.  He  threw 
the  noose  off  his  neck,  pulled  the  lasso  down 


62     FRANK  AMOSG  THE  EAXCHEROS. 

from  the  hook,  and  hastily  coilmg  it  up  in  one 
hand,  he  ran  to  the  place  where  he  had  left  hia 
rifle,  fully  determined  that  the  robber  should 
not  escape  from  the  ranch  without  an  attemp* 
on  his  part  to  capture  him.  His  rifle  was 
gone.  The  Ranchero  had  caught  it  up  as  he 
bounded  through  the  window,  thinking  he 
might  find  use  for  it,  in  case  he  should  happen 
to  run  against  the  visitor  in  the  dark. 

Frank  looked  upon  the  loss  of  his  rifle  as  a 
great  misfortune;  for,  not  only  did  he  believe 
the  weapon  lost  to  him  forever,  but  he  was 
powerless  to  effect  the  capture  of  the  Eanchero, 
even  if  he  succeeded  in  finding  him.  How- 
ever, he  did  not  waste  time  in  vain  regrets. 
He  sprang  through  the  window,  and,  running 
around  the  house,  entered  the  court,  to  look  for 
the  horseman  whose  timely  arrival  had  saved 
his  life.  He  went  as  far  as  the  archway  that 
led  into  the  court,  and  there  he  si  ddenly  paused, 
and  the  blood  rushed  back  upon  his  heart, 
leaving  his  face  as  pale  as  death  itself.  He  had 
told  the  Ranchero  that  a  dozen  such  men  as 
he  could  not  overcome  his  uncle;  but  the  scene 
before  him  belied  his  words.  Flat  upon  his 


THE    FIGHT    IN    THE    COURT.  63 

back,  ill  the  middle  of  the  court,  lay  Mr.  Win- 
ters, with  Pierre  Costello  kneeling  on  his  breast, 
one  hand  grasping  his  victim's  throat,  and  the 
other  holding  aloft  his  murderous-looking 
bowie,  whose  bright  blade  glistened  in  the 
moonlight  like  burnished  silver. 

Frank  started  back,  rubbed  his  eyes,  and 
looked  again.  There  could  be  no  mistake 
about  it,  for  the  moon  shone  brightly,  render- 
ing all  the  objects  in  the  court  as  plainly  visi- 
ble as  if  it  had  been  broad  daylight.  He  was 
not  only  terribly  frightened,  but  he  was  utterly 
confounded.  He  had  believed  Mr.  Winters  to 
be  fast  asleep  in  his  bed  at  the  hotel  in  San 
Diego ;  but  there  he  was,  when  Frank  least  ex- 
pected him,  and,  more  than  that,  he  was  being 
worsted  in  his  struggle  with  Pierre.  The  boy 
could  not  understand  it. 

"  Unhand  me,  you  scoundrel !"  he  heard  Un- 
ile  James  say,  in  a  feeble  voice. 

"Not  until  you  have  given  me  the  key  of  the 
safe,"  was  the  robber's  answer.  "  I  have  worked 
hard  for  that  gold  to-night,  and  I  am  not  go- 
ing to  leave  the  ranch  without  it." 

Then    commenced    a    furious    struggle,  and 


64  FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCHEROS. 

Frank  turned  away  his  head,  lest  he  should 
see  that  gleaming  knife  buried  in  his  uncle's 
lx>dy. 

Never  before  had  Frank  been  so  thoroughly 
>vercome  with  fear.  He  had  just  passed  through 
in  ordeal  that  would  have  tried  the  nerves  of 
;he  bravest  man,  and  he  had  scarcely  flinched; 
but  to  stand  there  a  witness  of  his  uncle's 
deadly  peril,  believing  himself  powerless  to  aid 
him,  was  indeed  enough  to  strike  terror  to  his 
heart. 

"O,  if  I  only  had  my  rifle,  or  one  of  my 
pistols!"  cried  Frank,  "wouldn't  I  tumble 
that  villain  in  a  hurry?  Or  if  I  could  find  a 
club,  or  could  loosen  one  of  these  stones" — 

Frank  suddenly  remembered  that  he  held  in 
his  hand  a  weapon  quite  as  effective  at  short 
range,  when  skilfully  used,  as  either  a  rifle  or 
pistol.  It  was  his  lasso;  and,  until  that  in- 
stant, he  had  forgotten  all  about  it.  Then  the 
blood  flew  to  his  cheeks;  his  power  of  action 
returned,  and  his  arms  seemed  nerved  with  the 
strength  of  giants.  How  thankful  was  he, 
then,  that  his  desire  to  become  as  expert  as 
bis  two  friends,  Johnny  Harris  and  Dick 


THE    FIGHT    IN   THE    COURT.  65 

Thomas,  had  led  him  to  practice  with  that 
novel  weapon. 

With  a  bound  like  an  antelope  he  started  to- 
ward the  struggling  men,  swinging  his  lasso 
around  his  head  as  he  ran.  Pierre,  believing 
that  he  had  left  Frank  securely  bound,  and  be- 
ing too  intent  upon  taking  care  of  his  new  pris- 
oner to  look  for  enemies  in  his  rear,  heard  not 
the  sound  of  his  approaching  footsteps,  nor  did 
he  dream  of  danger  until  the  noose,  which,  but 
a  few  moments  before,  had  been  around  Frank's 
neck,  settled  down  over  his  own.  Then  he 
knew  that  his  game  was  up.  With  a  piercing 
cry  of  terror  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  and,  with 
frantic  haste,  endeavored  to  throw  off  the  lariat; 
but  Frank  was  too  quick  for  him. 

"Aha!"  he  exclaimed,  trying  to  imitate  the 
tone  in  which  the  Ranchero  had  spoken  that 
same  word  but  a  few  moments  before.  "  Aha ! 
Now  I  am  going  to  break  one  of  two  things — 
foui  spirit  or  your  neck ;  I  do  n't  care  which. 
One  good  turn  deserves  another,  you  know." 

As  Frank  said  this,  he  threw  all  his  strength 
into  his  arms,  and  gave  the  lasso  a  vigorous 
jerk,  which  caused  Pierre's  heels  to  fly  up,  and 


66  FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCHEROS. 

his  head  to  come  in  violent  contact  with  the 
pavement  of  the  court. 

"  Now,  then,  Uncle  James,"  exclaimed  Frank, 
"  we  've  got  him.  No  you  do  n't !"  he  added, 
as  the  Ranchero  made  a  desperate  attempt  to 
regain  his  feet;  "come  back  here!"  and  he 
gave  him  a  second  jerk,  which  brought  him  to 
the  ground  again. 

Frank  was  blessed  with  more  than  an  ordi- 
nary share  of  muscle  for  a  boy  of  his  age ;  but 
he  could  not  hope  to  compete  successfully  with 
a  man  of  Pierre's  size  and  experience,  even 
though  he  held  him  at  great  disadvantage. 
The  Ranchero,  as  active  as  a  cat,  thrashed  about 
at  an  astonishing  rate,  and,  before  Frank  knew 
what  was  going  on,  he  had  cut  the  lasso  with 
his  knife — an  action  which  caused  our  hero, 
who  was  pulling  back  on  the  lariat  with  all  his 
strength,  to  toss  up  his  heels,  and  sit  down 
upon  the  rough  stones  of  the  court,  very  sud- 
denly, while  Pierre,  finding  himself  at  liberty, 
jumped  up,  and  ran  for  his  life. 

Mr.  Winters  had  by  this  time  regained  his 
feet,  and,  catching  up  Frank's  rifle,  which  lay 
beside  him  on  the  pavement,  he  took  a  flying 


THE   FIGHT   IN  THE   COUBT.  67 

shot  at  the  robber  just  as  he  was  running 
through  the  archway.  Pierre's  escape  was  a 
very  narrow  one ;  for  the  bullet  went  through 
the  brim  of  his  sombrero,  and  cut  off  a  lock  of 
lac  hair. 


68  THANK  AMONG  THE  KAXCHEEOfl. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   MYSTERIES   SOLVED. 

f)IERRE,  finding  himself  uninjured  by  Mr. 
-*-  "Wmters's  shot,  suddenly  became  very  cour- 
ageous, and  stopped  to  say  a  parting  word  to 
that  gentleman. 

"  Try  it  again,"  said  he,  with  a  taunting 
laugh.  "  You  are  a  poor  shot  for  an  old  fron- 
tiersman! I  will  bid  you  good-by,  now,"  he 
added,  shaking  his  knife  at  Uncle  James,  "but 
you  have  not  seen  the  last  of  me.  You  will 
have  reason  to  remember  " 

The  Ranchero  did  not  say  what  Mr.  Winters 
would  have  reason  to  remember,  for  he  hap- 
pened to  look  toward  the  opposite  side  of  the 
court,  and  saw  something  that  brought  from  him 
an  ejaculation  of  alarm,  and  caused  him  to  turn 
and  take  to  his  heels.  An  instant  afterward, 
a  dark  object  bounded  through  the  court,  and, 
before  the  robber  had  taken  half  a  dozen  steps, 


THE   MYSTERIES   SOLVED.  69 

Marmion  sprang  upon  his  back,  and  threw  him 
to  the  ground. 

"  Hurrah ! "  shouted  Frank.  "  You  are  not 
gone  yet,  it  seems.  You  're  caught  now,  easy 
enough ;  for  that  dog  never  lets  go,  if  he  once 
gets  a  good  hold.  Hang  on  to  him,  old  fel- 
low!" 

But  Marmion  seemed  to  be  utterly  unable  to 
manage  the  Ranchero.  He  had  placed  his  fore- 
feet upon  Pierre's  breast,  and  appeared  to  be 
holding  him  by  the  throat;  but  the  latter,  with 
one  blow  of  his  arm,  knocked  him  off,  and,  re- 
gaining his  feet,  fled  through  the  grove  with 
the  speed  of  the  wind — the  piece  of  the  lasso, 
which  was  still  around  his  neck,  streaming 
straight  out  behind  him. 

"  Take  him,  Marmion !  "  yelled  Frank,  aston- 
ished to  see  his  dog  so  easily  defeated.  "  Take 
him!  Hi!  hi!" 

The  animal  evidently  did  his  best  to  obey; 
but  there  seemed  to  be  something  the  matter 
with  him.  He  ran  as  if  he  were  dragging  a 
heavy  weight  behind  him,  or  as  if  his  feet  were 
tied  together,  and  it  was  all  he  could  do  to 
keep  up  with  the  robber;  and,  when  he  tried 


70     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

to  seize  him,  Pierre  would  shake  him  off  with- 
out even  slackening  his  pace. 

Mr.  "Winters,  in  the  meantime,  had  run  to 
his  horse — which,  during  the  struggle,  had  stocd 
perfectly  still  in  the  middle  of  the  court — after 
his  pistols ;  but,  before  he  could  get  an  oppor- 
tunity to  use  them,  both  Pierre  and  the  dog 
had  disappeared  among  the  trees.  A  moment 
afterward,  a  horse  was  heard  going  at  full 
speed  through  the  grove,  indicating  that  the 
robber  was  leaving  the  ranch  as  fast  as  possible. 

All  this  while,  Frank  has  been  almost  over- 
whelmed with  astonishment.  The  ease  with 
which  the  desperado  had  vanquished  his  uncle, 
and  the  strange  behavior  of  the  hitherto  infalli- 
ble Marmion,  were  things  beyond  his  compre- 
hension. He  stood  gazing,  in  stupid  wonder, 
toward  the  trees  among  which  Pierre  had  dis- 
appeared, while  the  sound  of  the  horse's  hoofs 
grew  fainter  and  fainter,  and  finally  died  away 
altogether.  Then  he  seemed  to  wake  up,  and 
to  realize  the  fact  that  the  Ranchero  had  made 
good  his  escape,  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts  to 
capture  him. 

"  Let's  follow  him,  uncle  ! "  he  exclaimed,  in 


THE   MYSTERIES   SOLVED.  71 

an  excited  voice.     "I  can  soon  overtake  him 
on  Roderick." 

"  I  could  not  ride  a  hundred  yards  to  save 
my  life ! "  replied  Mr.  Winters,  seating  him- 
self on  the  porch,  and  resting  his  head  on  his 
hands.  "  Bring  me  some  water,  Frank." 

These  words  alarmed  the  boy,  who  now,  for 
the  first  time,  saw  that  his  uncle's  face  was 
deadly  pale,  and  that  his  hair  was  matted  with 
blood,  which  was  trickling  down  over  his 
collar. 

"  O,  uncle ! "  cried  Frank,  in  dismay. 

"Don't  be  uneasy,"  said  Mr.  Winters, 
quietly.  "Bring  me  some  water." 

Without  stopping  to  make  any  inquiries, 
Frank  ran  into  the  kitchen  and  aroused  the 
housekeeper,  giving  her  a  very  hasty  and  dis 
connected  account  of  what  had  happened,  and 
then  he  hurried  to  the  quarters  to  awaken 
Felix. 

"  Go  to  Fort  Yuma  for  the  doctor,  at  once ! " 
shoutel  Frank,  pounding  loudly  upon  the 
loor. 

"What's  up?"  inquired  Felix,  from  the 
inside. 


72     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

"No  matter  what's  up — go  for  the  doctor  1 
Take  Roderick;  he's  the  swiftest  horse  on  the 
ranch.  Uncle  's  badly  wounded." 

"Wounded!"  repeated  Felix,  jerking  open 
the  door,  and  appearing  upon  the  threshold, 
with  a  revolver  in  each  hand.  "Who  did  it? 
Where  is  he?" 

"I  can't  stop  to  tell  you  who  did  it,  or 
where  he  is.  Hurry  up,  Felix,  and  don't 
stand  there  looking  at  me  !  We  've  just  had 
the  hardest  kind  of  a  fight  with,  Pierre.  Mar- 
mion  was  there,  but  he  didn't  do  any  good. 
He  threw  the  villain  down,  and  then  would  n't 
hold  him.  I  've  a  good  notion  to  shoot  that 
dog  if  he  ever  comes  back.  Make  haste, 
Felix!  I  can't  stop  to  tell  you  any  more." 

But,  after  all,  Frank  did  stop  to  tell  a  great 
deal  more;  and,  by  the  time  the  Ranchero  was 
dressed,  he  had  given  him  a  complete  history 
of  all  that  had  happened  in  the  house  since 
sunset.  Felix,  astonished  and  enraged  at  the 
treachery  of  his  companion,  examined  his  pis- 
tols very  carefully  before  he  put  them  into  his 
holsters,  and  Frank  knew,  by  the  expression  in 
hi*,  eye,  that  if  he  should  happen  to  meet 


THE   MYSTEKIES   SOL\£D.  73 

Pierre,  during  his  ride  to  the  Fort,  the  latter 
would  fall  into  dangerous  hands. 

As  soon  as  Frank  had  seen  Roderick  sad- 
dled, he  ran  back  to  the  house,  and  found  Uncle 
James  lying  on  a  sofa,  and  the  housekeeper  en- 
gaged in  dressing  a  long,  ragged  cut  on  the 
back  of  his  head.  Being  weak  from  the  loss 
of  blood,  he  sank  into  a  deep  slumber  before 
the  operation  was  completed,  and  Frank,  find- 
ing nothing  to  do,  and  being  too  nervous,  after 
the  exciting  events  of  the  evening,  to  keep 
still,  went  out  to  watch  for  the  doctor,  who, 
seeing  that  the  Fort  was  sixteen  miles  from  the 
ranch,  could  not  reasonably  be  expected  before 
daylight.  For  a  long  time  he  paced  restlessly 
up  and  down  the  porch,  his  mind  busy  with  the 
three  questions  that  had  so  astonished  and  per- 
plexed him :  What  had  happened  to  bring  his 
uncle  home  that  night?  How  had  he  been  so 
easily  overpowered  by  Pierre?  and,  What  was 
the  matter  with  Marmion  ?  The  longer  he 
pondered  upon  them,  the  more  bewildered  he 
became ;  and,  finally  dismissing  them  from  his 
mind  altogether,  he  went  out  to  attend  to  his 
uncle's  horse,  which,  all  this  while,  had  been 


74     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

running  back  and  forth  between  the  house  and 
barn,  now  and  then  neighing  shrilly,  as  if  im- 
patient at  being  so  long  neglected. 

As  Frank  passed  through  the  court,  he 
picked  up  his  rifle,  which  Mr.  Winters  had 
tlirown  down  after  taking  that  flying  shot  at 
Pierre.  The  stock  felt  damp  in  his  grasp,  and 
when  he  looked  at  his  hand,  he  saw  that  it  was 
red  with  blood. 

"  I  understand  one  thing  now,  just  as  well  as 
if  I  had  stood  here  and  witnessed  it,"  said  he, 
to  himself.  "  When  Pierre  went  out  of  my 
room,  he  ran  in  here  to  see  who  it  was  visiting 
the  ranch  at  this  late  hour,  and  when  he  found 
that  it  was  Uncle  James,  he  thought  he  would 
get  the  safe  key.  He  was  too  much  of  a  coward 
to  attack  him  openly,  and  so  he  slipped  up  and 
knocked  him  down  with  the  butt  of  my  rifle. 
That 's  what  made  the  wound  on  uncle's  head, 
and  that 's  how  it  came  that  Pierre  could  hold 
hin  down  with  one  hand.  Did  n't  I  know  all 
the  time  that  there  was  something  up?  Now, 
if  Pierre  had  succeeded  in  getting  the  safe  key, 
no  doubt  he  would  have  renewed  his  attempts 
to  make  me  tell  where  I  had  put  the  key  of  the 


THE  MYSTEEIES  SOLVED.  75 

office.  Would  I  have  been  coward  enough  to 
do  it  ?  No,  sir !  I  would  have —  Hallo ! " 

This  exclamation  was  called  forth  by  the  sud- 
den appearance  of  the  dog,  which  crept  slowly 
toward  his  master,  looking  altogether  as  if  he 
had  been  guilty  of  something  very  mean. 

"So  you  have  got  back,  have  you?"  said 
Frank,  sternly.  "  What  do  you  mean  by  going 
off  to  hunt  rabbits  when  you  ought  to  stay  at 
home?  And  what  excuse  have  you  to  offer  for 
allowing  that  robber  to  get  up  after  you  had 
pulled  him  down  ?  " 

Marmion  stopped,  and,  laying  his  head  close 
to  the  pavement,  wagged  his  tail  and  whined 
piteously. 

"I  don't  wonder  that  you  feel  ashamed  of 
yourself,"  said  his  master.  "  Come  here,  you 
old  coward." 

The  dog  reluctantly  obeyed,  and,  when  he 
came  nearer,  another  mystery  was  cleared  up, 
and  Frank  knew  why  his  favorite  had  behaved 
so  strangely.  One  end  of  a  rope  was  twisted 
about  his  jaws  so  tightly  that  he  could  scarcely 
move  them,  and  the  other,  after  being  wound 
around  his  head  and  neck  to  keep  the  muzzle 


76     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEEOS. 

from  slipping  off,  was  fastened  to  both  his  fore 
feet,  holding  them  so  close  together  that  it  was 
a  wonder  that  he  could  walk  at  all.  Frank's 
anger  vanished  in  an  instant.  He  ran  into  his 
room  after  his  knife,  to  release  the  dog  from  his 
bonds,  and  then  he  discovered  that  the  animal 
had  not  come  out  of  the  fight  unharmed.  Two 
gaping  wounds  in  his  side  bore  evidence  to  the 
skill  with  which  Pierre  had  handled  his 
bowie. 

At  that  moment,  Frank  felt  a  good  deal  as 
Llewellyn  must  have  felt  when  he  killed  the 
hound  which  he  imagined  had  devoured  his 
child,  but  which  had,  in  reality,  defended  him 
from  the  attacks  of  a  wolf.  He  had  scolded 
Marmion  for  his  failure  to  hold  the  robber  after 
he  had  thrown  him  down,  and  had  been  more 
than  half  inclined  to  give  him  a  good  beating; 
while  the  animal  had,  all  the  while,  been  doing 
his  best,  and,  in  spite  of  his  wounds  and  bonds, 
had  kept  up  the  fight  until  Pierre  mounted  his 
horse  and  fled  from  the  ranch. 

The  boy's  first  care,  after  he  had  removed 
the  rope,  was  to  bandage  the  wounds  as  well  as 
he  could,  and  to  lead  the  dog  to  a  comfortable 


THE    MYSTERIES   SOLVED.  77 

bed  on  the  porch,  where  he  left  him  to  await 
the  arrival  of  the  doctor;  for  Frank  resolved 
that,  as  Marmion  had  received  his  injuries  dur- 
ing the  performance  of  his  duty,  he  should  have 
the  very  best  of  care. 

Frank  never  closed  his  eyes  that  night.  He 
passed  the  hours  in  pacing  up  and  down  the 
porch  watching  for  the  Ranchero,  who  made  his 
appearance  shortly  after  daylight,  accompanied 
by  the  doctor.  Mr.  Winters's  wound,  although 
very  painful,  was  not  a  dangerous  one,  and  after 
it  had  been  dressed  by  the  skillful  hands  of  the 
surgeon,  he  felt  well  enough  to  enter  into  con- 
versation with  those  around  him. 

"Now,"  said  Frank,  who  had  been  impatiently 
awaiting  an  opportunity  to  talk  to  his  uncle, 
"I'd  like  to  know  what  brought  you  back  here 
last  night?" 

"  I  came  after  the  twelve  thousand  dollars," 
replied  Mr.  Winters.  "When  I  arrived  in  the 
city,  I  learned  that  Mr.  Brown  had  left  there 
early  in  the  morning  to  pay  us  a  visit,  taking 
with  him  the  money  he  owed  me.  I  wanted  to 
use  it  immediately,  and  as  I  did  not  know  what 
might  happen  if  it  should  become  known  that 


78     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

there  was  so  much  money  in  the  house,  aiid  no 
one  here  to  take  care  of  it,  I  came  home;  but 
I  should  have  lost  the  money  after  all,  if  it 
had  n't  been  for  you,  Frank,  and  I  might  have 
lost  my  life  with  it;  for  I  believe  the  villain 
was  in  earnest." 

"  I  am  quite  sure  he  was,"  said  Frank,  feel- 
ing of  his  neck,  which  still  bore  the  marks  of 
the  lasso  in  the  shape  of  a  bright  red  streak. 
"  If  you  had  stayed  away  five  minutes  longer, 
I  should  have  been  hanged.  O,  it 's  a  fact !" 
he  added,  earnestly,  noticing  that  the  doctor 
looked  at  him  incredulously.  "I  came  very 
near  dancing  on  nothing,  now  I  tell  you;  and 
if  you  only  knew  all  that  has  happened  in  this 
house  since  dark,  you  would  n't  say  that  there 
was  no  one  here  to  take  care  of  that  money. 
But,  uncle,  how  came  you  by  that  wound  ?" 

"  Pierre  gave  it  to  me,"  was  the  reply.  "  He 
slipped  up  behind  me  when  I  was  dismounting, 
and  struck  me  with  something.  But  what  did 
he  dc  to  you  ?" 

"  He  pulled  me  up  by  the  neck  with  my  own 
lasso,"  replied  Frank;  "that's  what  he  did  to 
me." 


THE   MYSTERIES   SOLVED.  79 

"  The    scoundrel !"    exclaimed    the    doctor. 
"  Tell  us  all  about  it." 

Thus  encouraged,  Frank  began  and  related 
his  story,  to  which  his  auditors  listened  -with 
breathless  attention.  He  told  what  he  had 
done  with  the  twelve  thousand  dollars,  where 
he  had  hidden  the  keys,  how  he  had  detected 
Pierre  watching  him  through  the  window,  and 
how  the  Ranchero  had  told  him  that  Marmion 
was  off  hunting  rabbits,  when  he  was  lying 
bound  and  muzzled  in  some  out-of-the-way 
place.  Then  he  explained  how  the  robber  had 
overpowered  him  while  he  was  reading,  how 
he  had  searched  his  pockets  for  the  keys,  and 
pulled  him  up  by  the  neck  because  he  refused 
to  tell  where  he  had  hidden  them,  and  how  he 
was  on  the  very  point  of  hanging  him  in  ear- 
nest when  the  arrival  of  Uncle  James  alarmed 
him.  Mr.  Winters  was  astonished,  and  so  was 
the  doctor,  who  patted  Frank  on  the  head,  and 
said: 

"  You  're  a  chip  of  the  old  block.  And  did 
you  not  tell  him  where  you  had  put  the 
key?" 

"No,  sir;"  was  the  answer.     "He   choked 


80    FKANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

me  pretty  hard,  though,  and  my  throat  feels 
funny  yet." 

The  boy  having  finished  his  story,  Mr.  Win- 
ters took  it  up  where  he  left  off,  and  told  the 
doctor  how  Frank  had  rescued  him  from  the 
robber,  and  how  hard  he  had  worked  to  effect 
his  capture,  and  all  who  heard  it  declared  that 
he  was  a  hero. 


FBANK   MEETS   A   HIGH WAY MAN.  81 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FRANK    MEETS   A   HIGHWAYMAN. 

T?RANK  passed  the  next  day  in  making  up 
•*•  for  the  sleep  he  had  lost  the  night  before. 
About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  arose 
refreshed,  and  visited  his  uncle,  whom  he  found 
fast  asleep.  Now  that  Archie  was  gone,  the 
old  house  was  quiet  and  lonesome — too  much 
so,  indeed,  to  suit  Frank,  who,  after  trying  in 
vain  to  find  some  way  to  amuse  himself  until 
supper  time,  saddled  Roderick,  and  set  out  for 
a  short  gallop  over  the  prairie.  As  he  was 
about  to  mount  his  horse,  Marmion  came  out 
of  the  court,  and  frisked  about  his  master  as 
lively  as  ever,  apparently  none  the  worse  for 
the  ugly-looking  wounds  he  had  received  dur- 
ing his  encounter  with  the  robber. 

"Go  home,  sir,"  said  Frank.  "Don't  you 
know  that  you  are  under  the  doctor's  care?" 

If  Marmion  did  know  it,  he  did  n't  bother 
6 


82     FBANK  AMONG  THE  BANCHEBOS. 

his  head  about  it.  He  had  a  will  of  his  own ; 
and  having  always  been  permitted  to  accom- 
pany his  master  wherever  he  went,  he  did  not 
feel  disposed  to  remain  behind.  Instead  of 
obeying  the  command  to  go  home,  he  ran  on 
before,  and  Frank  made  no  further  attempts  to 
drive  him  back. 

Frank,  having  by  this  time  become  well 
acquainted  with  the  country  for  twenty  miles 
around  his  uncle's  rancho,  knew  where  he 
wanted  to  go,  and  about  an  hour  after  he  left 
home,  he  was  stretched  at  full  length  beside  a 
spring  among  the  mountains,  where  he  and  his 
friends  often  camped  to  eat  their  dinner  dur- 
ing their  hunting  expeditions.  Roderick  stood 
close  by,  lazily  cropping  the  grass,  but  Marmion 
was  not  in  sight.  The  last  time  his  master  saw 
him,  he  was  trying  to  gnaw  his  way  into  a  hol- 
low log  where  a  rabbit  had  taken  refuge. 

Frank  lay  beside  the  spring  until  his  increas- 
ing hunger  reminded  him  that  it  was  nearly  sup- 
per time,  and  then  he  mounted  his  horse,  and 
started  for  home.  Roderick  being  permitted  to 
choose  his  own  gait,  walked  slowly  along  a  nar- 
row bridle-path  that  led  out  of  the  mountains, 


FRANK   MEETS  A   HIGHWAYMAN.  83 

and  Frank  sat  in  his  saddle  with  both  hands  in 
his  pockets,  his  sombrero  pulled  down  over  his 
eyes,  and  his  thoughts  wandering  away  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  He  had  ridden  in  this  way 
about  half  a  mile,  when  he  was  suddenly  aroused 
from  his  meditations  by  a  commotion  in  the 
bushes  at  his  side,  and  the  next  moment  a  man 
sprang  in  front  of  the  horse,  and  seized  him  by 
the  bridle. 

"  Pierre  Costello !"  exclaimed  Frank,  as  soon 
as  he  had  somewhat  recovered  from  his  aston- 
ishment. 

"  Ay,  it 's  Pierre,  and  no  mistake,"  returned 
the  Ranchero,  with  a  triumphant  smile.  "  You 
thought  I  had  left  the  country,  did  n't  you  ?" 

"  I  was  in  hopes  you  had ;  but  I  see  you  are 
still  on  hand,  like  a  bad  dollar-bill." 

"We  are  well  met,"  continued  Pierre.  "I 
have  been  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  thank 
you  for  the  very  friendly  manner  in  which  you 
treated  me  last  night." 

"You  need  not  have  put  yourself  to  any 
trouble  about  it.  You  are  under  no  obligations 
to  me.  As  I  am  in  something  of  a  hurry,  I 
will  now  bid  you  good-by." 


84     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHFHOS. 

"Not  if  I  know  myself,  and  I  think  I  do," 
said  Pierre,  with  a  laugh.  "You  are  just  as 
impudent  as  ever.  Climb  down  off  that  horse." 

Frank's  actions  indicated  that  he  did  net 
think  it  best  to  obey  this  order.  He  sat  per- 
fectly still  in  his  saddle,  looking  at  Pierre,  and 
wondering  what  he  should  do.  He  could  show 
no  weapon  to  intimidate  the  robber,  for  he  was 
entirely  unarmed,  not  having  brought  even  his 
lasso  or  clasp-knife  with  him ;  while  Pierre 
held  in  his  hand,  ready  for  instant  use,  the 
bowie  that  had  rendered  him  such  good  service 
during  the  fight  in  the  court.  At  first  Frank 
entertained  the  bold  idea  of  riding  over  the 
Ranchero.  Roderick  was  as  quick  as  a  flash  in 
his  movements,  and  one  touch  of  the  spurs,  if 
his  rider  could  take  Pierre  off  his  guard,  would 
cause  the  horse  to  jerk  the  bridle  from  his 
grasp,  and  before  the  robber  could  recover  him- 
self, Frank  would  be  out  of  danger.  But  Pierre 
had  anticipated  this  movement,  and  he  was  tco 
well  acquainted  with  his  prisoner  to  relax  his 
vigilance  for  an  instant.  More  than  that,  he 
held  both  the  reins  under  Roderick's  jaw  with 
a  firm  grasp,  and  stood  in  such  a  position  that 


FRANK    MEETS    A    HIGHWAYMAN.  85 

he  could  control  the  movements  of  both  the 
horse  and  his  rider. 

A  moment's  reflection  having  satisfied  Frank 
that  his  idea  of  running  over  Pierre  could  not 
be  carried  out,  he  began  to  look  around  for  his 
dog.  But  Marmion  had  not  yet  come  up,  and 
Frank  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  to  him- 
self that  he  was  as  completely  in  the  villain's 
power  as  he  had  been  when  Pierre  had  the  lasso 
around  his  neck. 

"  Get  down  off  that  horse,  I  say,"  commanded 
the  Ranchero. 

"So  you  have  turned  highwayman,  have 
you?  "  said  Frank,  without  moving.  "  Do  you 
find  it  a  more  pleasant  and  profitable  business 
than  herding  cattle  ?  " 

"Arc  you  going  to  get  off  that  horse?"  asked 
the  robber,  impatiently. 

"What's  the  use?  You  will  not  find  a  red 
cent  in  my  pockets." 

"I  suppose  not;  but  if  I  take  you  with  me, 
1  ;11  soon  find  out  how  many  yellow  boys  your 
uncle  carries  in  his  pockets." 

"  If  you  take  me  with  you!"  repeated  Frank. 
"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 


86  FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCHEROS. 

"I  mean  just  this:  I  shall  find  it  exceed- 
ingly lonesome  living  here  in  the  mountains  by 
myself,  and  I  do  n't  know  of  any  one  in  the 
world  I  had  rather  have  for  a  companion  thaii 
yourself." 

"  Humph ! "  exclaimed  Frank ;  "  that 's  a  nice 
idea.  I  won't  go." 

"Of  course,"  continued  the  Ranchero,  not 
heeding  the  interruption,  "when  you  fail  to 
make  your  appearance  at  home  for  three  or  foui 
days,  your  uncle  will  think  he  has  seen  the  last 
of  you.  He  will  believe  that  you  have  been 
clawed  up  by  grizzlies,  or  that  you  have  tum- 
bled into  some  of  these  gullies.  He  will  raise 
a  hue  and  cry,  search  high  and  low  for  you,  offer 
rewards,  and  all  that;  and,  while  the  fuss  ia 
going  on,  and  people  are  wondering  what  in 
the  world  could  have  become  of  you,  you  will 
be  safe  and  sound,  and  living  like  a  gentleman, 
with  me,  on  the  fat  of  the  land." 

"  But,  Pierre,"  said  Frank,  now  beginning  to 
be  really  frightened,  "  I  do  n't  want  to  live  with 
you  on  the  fat  of  the  land,  and  I  won't  do  it. 
Let  go  that  bridle." 

The  Ranchero,  as  before,  paid  no  attention  to 


FRANK    MEETS   A    HIGHWAYMAN.  87 

the  interruption.  He  seemed  to  ielight  in  tor- 
menting his  prisoner. 

"After  you  have  been  with  me  about  six 
months,"  he  went  on,  "and  your  friends  have 
given  up  all  hope  of  ever  seeing  you  again,  I  '11 
send  a  note  to  Mr.  Winters,  stating  that  you 
are  alive  and  well,  and  that,  if  he  will  give  me 
twenty  thousand  dollars  in  gold,  I  will  return 
you  to  him  in  good  order,  right  side  up  with 
care.  If  I  find  that  we  can  get  along  pretty 
well  together,  I  may  conclude  to  keep  you  a 
year;  for  the  longer  you  remain  away  from 
your  uncle,  the  more  he  will  want  to  see  you, 
and  the  bigger  will  be  the  pile  he  will  give  to 
have  you  brought  back.  What  is  your  opinion 
of  that  plan  ?  Do  n't  you  think  it  a  capital 
way  to  raise  the  wind?" 

Frank  listened  to  this  speech  in  utter  be- 
wilderment. Cruel  and  reckless  as  he  knew 
Pierre  to  be,  he  had  never  for  a  moment  im- 
agined that  he  could  be  guilty  of  such  an 
enormous  crime  as  this.  He  did  not  know 
what  reply  to  make — there  was  nothing  he 
could  say  or  do.  Entreaties  and  resistance 
were  alike  useless. 


88  FRANK   AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

""Well,  what  are  you  thinking  about?  '  in- 
quired the  Ranchero. 

"  I  was  wondering  if  a  greater  villain  than 
yourself  ever  lived,"  replied  Frank. 

"We  will  talk  about  that  as  we  go  along," 
said  Pierre.  "Get  off  that  horse,  now;  I  am 
going  to  send  him  home." 

Frank,  seeing  no  way  of  escape,  was  about 
to  obey  this  order,  when  the  truant,  Marmion, 
came  in  sight,  trotting  leisurely  up  the  path, 
carrying  in  his  mouth  the  rabbit,  which  he 
had  succeeded  in  gnawing  out  of  the  log.  He 
stopped  short  on  discovering  Pierre,  dropped 
his  game,  and  gathered  himself  for  a  spring. 

"  Take  him,  Marmion  ! "  yelled  Frank,  as  he 
straightened  himself  up  in  his  saddle.  "If  it 
is  all  the  same  to  you,  Mr.  Pierre,  I  '11  not  go 
to  the  mountains  this  evening." 

The  Ranchero  did  not  wait  to  receive  the 
dog.  He  was  an  arrant  coward,  and,  more  than 
that,  he  stood  as  much  in  fear  of  Marmion  as 
if  he  had  been  a  bear  or  panther.  Uttering  a 
cry  of  terror,  he  dropped  the  bridle,  and,  with 
one  bound,  disappeared  in  the  bushes.  Mar- 
mion followed  close  at  his  heels,  encouraged  by 


FRANK   MEETS   A   HIGHWAYMAN.  b9 

terrific  yells  from  his  master,  who,  now  that  hia 
clog  was  neither  bound  nor  muzzled,  looked 
upon  the  capture  of  the  robber  as  a  thing  be- 
yond a  doubt.  There  was  a  loud  crashing  and 
snapping  in  the  bushes,  as  the  pursuer  and  pur- 
sued sped  on  their  way,  and  presently  another 
loud  yell  of  terror,  mingled  with  an  angry 
growl,  told  Frank  that  the  dog  had  come  up 
with  Pierre. 

"He  is  caught  at  last,"  thought  our  hero; 
"how  shall  I  get  him  home?  that's  the  ques- 
tion. How  desperately  he  fights,"  he  added,  as 
the  commotion  in  the  bushes  increased,  and  the 
yells  and  growls  grew  louder.  "But  he  '11  find 
it 's  no  use,  for  he  can't  whip  that  dog,  if  he  has 
got  a  knife.  Now,  I  ought  to  have  a  rope. 
I  '11  ride  up  the  path,  and  see  if  I  can  find 
Pierre's  horse ;  and,  if  I  can,  I  '11  take  his  lasso 
and  tie  the  rascal  hand  and  foot." 

Frank  galloped  up  the  path  a  short  distance, 
but  could  see  nothing  of  the  horse.  The  Ban- 
chero  had,  doubtless,  left  him  in  the  bushes,  and 
Frank  was  about  to  dismount  and  go  in  search 
of  him,  -when,  to  his  utter  astonishment,  he  saw 
Pierre  coming  toward  him.  His  face  was  badly 


90  FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

scratched ;  his  jacket  and  shirt  had  disappeared 
altogether;  his  breast  and  arms  were  covered 
with  blood,  and  so  was  his  knife,  which  he 
still  held  in  his  hand.  But,  where  was  Mar- 
mion,  that  he  was  not  following  up  his  enemy? 
The  answer  was  plain.  The  dog  had  been 
worsted  in  his  encounter  with  the  robber,  and 
Frank  was  left  to  fight  his  battles  alone.  He 
thought  no  more  of  taking  Pierre  a  prisoner  to 
the  rancho.  All  he  cared  for  now  was  to  escape. 

"Well,  now,  it  was  good  of  you  not  to  run 
away  when  you  had  the  chance,"  said  the  Ran- 
chero,  who  appeared  to  be  quite  as  much  sur- 
prised at  seeing  Frank  as  the  latter  had  been 
at  seeing  him. 

"If  I  had  thought  that  you  could  get  away 
from  that  dog,  I  should  have  been  a  mile  from 
here  by  this  time,"  replied  Frank.  "I  was 
looking  for  your  horse,  and,  if  I  had  found  him, 
I  should  have  gone  to  Marmion's  assistance." 

"Well,  he  needed  you  bad  enough,"  said 
Pierre,  with  a  laugh.  "I  have  fixed  him  this 
time." 

"You  have!"  cried  Frank,  his  worst  sus- 
picions confirmed.  "Is  Marmion  dead?" 


FKANK   MEETS   A   HIGHWAYMAN.  91 

"Dead  as  a  door-nail.  Now  we  must  l>e  off; 
we  have  wasted  too  much  time  already." 

If  the  Ranchero  supposed  that  Frank  would 
allow  himself  to  be  captured  a  second  time,  he 
was  sadly  mistaken.  The  boy  was  free,  and  he 
determined  to  remain  so. 

"Pierre,"  said  he,  filled  with  rage  at  the 
words  of  the  robber,  "  I  may  have  a  chance  to 
square  accounts  with  you  some  day,  and  if  I  do 
I  '11  remember  that  you  killed  my  dog." 

"Come,  now,  no  nonsense,"  said  the  Ran- 
chero, gruffly.  "You  are  my  prisoner,  you 
know." 

"I  think  not.  Stand  where  you  are;  don't 
come  a  step  nearer." 

While  this  conversation  was  going  on,  Pierre 
had  been  walking  slowly  up  the  path,  and,  as 
Frank  ceased  speaking,  he  made  a  sudden  rush, 
intending  to  seize  Roderick  by  the  bridle.  But 
his  rider  was  on  the  alert.  Gathering  his  reins 
firmly  in  his  hands,  he  dashed  his  spurs  into 
the  flanks  of  his  horse,  which  sprang  forward 
like  an  arrow  from  a  bow,  and  thundered  down 
the  path  toward  Pierre,  who  turned  pale  with 
terror. 


92     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHERO3. 

"Out  of  the  way,  you  villain,  or  I'll  ride 
you  down,"  shouted  Frank. 

This  was  very  evident  to  the  Ranchero,  who, 
seizing  upon  the  only  chance  for  escape  offered 
him,  plunged  head-foremost  into  the  bushes. 
He  barely  missed  being  run  down,  for  Roder- 
ick flew  by  before  he  was  fairly  out  of  the  path, 
and,  by  the  time  he  had  recovered  his  feet, 
Frank  was  out  of  sight. 

When  Frank  reached  home,  he  shed  a  great 
many  tears  over  Marmion's  untimely  death; 
but,  as  it  happened,  it  was  grief  wasted.  One 
morning,  about  a  week  after  his  adventure  with 
the  highwayman,  while  Frank  and  Archie  were 
out  for  their  morning's  ride,  a  sorry-looking 
object  crawled  into  the  court,  and  thence  into 
the  office,  where  Mr.  Winters  was  busy  at  his 
desk.  "  Mad  dog  ! "  shouted  the  gentleman, 
when  he  discovered  the  intruder;  and,  spring- 
ing to  his  feet,  he  lifted  his  chair  over  his  head, 
and  was  in  the  very  act  of  extinguishing  the 
last  spark  of  life  left  in  the  poor  brute,  when 
the  sight  of  a  collar  he  wore  around  his  neck 
arrested  his  hand.  It  was  no  wonder  that  Un- 
cle James  had  not  recognized  the  animal,  for 


FRANK   MEETS  A   HIGHWAYMAN.  93 

he  looked  very  unlike  the  lively,  •well-condi- 
tioned dog  which  Frank  was  wont  to  regard  as 
the  apple  of  his  eye.  But,  nevertheless,  it  was 
Marraion,  or,  rather,  all  that  was  left  of  him. 
He  had  been  severely  wounded,  and  was  nearly 
starved;  but  he  received  the  best  of  care,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  he  was  as  savage  and 
full  of  fight  as  ever.  Although  he  had  failed 
to  capture  the  robber,  he  had  rendered  his  mas- 
ter a  most  important  service,  and  no  one  ever 
heard  him  find  fault  with  Marmion  after  that. 
Frank's  reputation  was  by  this  time  firmly 
established,  and  he  was  the  lion  of  the  settle- 
ment. Dick  Lewis  was  prouder  than  ever  of 
him.  Of  course,  he  called  him  a  "  keerless  fel- 
ler," and  read  him  several  long  lectures,  illus- 
trating them  by  incidents  drawn  from  his  own 
experience.  He  related  the  story  of  Frank's 
adventures  with  the  robber  every  time  he  could 
induce  any  one  to  listen  to  it,  and  ever  after- 
ward called  him  "the  boy  that  fit  that  ar* 
Greaser."  Old  Bob  Kelly  beamed  benevolently 
upon  him  every  time  they  met,  and  more  than 
once  told  his  companion  that  the  "youngster 
would  make  an  amazin'  trapper;"  and  that,  in 


94     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

Dick's  estimation,  was  a  compliment  worth  all 
the  rest. 

Meanwhile,  the  country  had  been  made  ex- 
ceedingly unsafe  for  Pierre  Costello.  The 
neighbors  had  turned  out  in  force,  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  mountains  for  miles  around 
had  been  searched,  and  a  large  reward  offered 
for  the  robber's  apprehension ;  but  it  was  all 
in  vain.  Nothing  more  had  been  heard  of 
Pierre,  and  Frank  hoped  that  he  had  seen  him 
for  the  last  time.  Fate,  however,  had  decreed 
that  he  was  to  have  other  adventures  with  the 
highwayman. 


COLONEL  ARTHUR  VANE.        95 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

COLONEL  ARTHUR  VANE. 

"\ITE  left  Frank  and  Archie  standing  on  tie 
porch,  watching  the  wild  steer  which  was 
being  led  toward  the  cow-pen.  As  soon  as  they 
had  got  over  their  excitement,  they  remembered 
that  they  had  saddled  their  horses  for  the  pur- 
pose of  riding  over  to  visit  their  nearest  neigh- 
bor, Johnny  Harris,  one  of  the  boys  whose 
daring  horsemanship,  and  skill  with  the  lasso, 
had  so  excited  their  admiration.  Johnny  lived 
four  miles  distant ;  but  he  and  the  cousins  were 
together  almost  all  the  time.  If  Johnny  was 
not  at  their  house,  Frank  and  Archie  were  at 
his;  and  when  you  saw  one  of  the  three,  it 
was  a  sure  sign  that  the  others  were  not  a  great 
way  off.  Dick  Thomas,  of  whom  mention  has 
been  made,  had  been  one  of  the  party;  but  he 
was  now  on  a  visit  to  San  Francisco  and  would 
not  return  until  winter. 


96     FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

Had  Frank  and  his  cousin,  while  at  home, 
been  compelled  to  ride  or  walk  four  miles  in 
search  of  a  playmate,  they  might  have  been 
disposed  to  grumble  over  what  they  would  have 
considered  a  very  hard  lot  in  life;  but  they  had 
learned  to  think  nothing  of  it.  There  were 
their  horses  always  ready  and  willing,  and  half 
an  hour's  gallop  over  the  prairie  in  the  cool  of 
the  morning,  or  evening,  was  not  looked  upon 
as  any  thing  very  disagreeable.  On  this  par- 
ticular morning,  Roderick  and  Marmion  were 
impatient  to  exhibit  their  mettle ;  and  even 
Sleepy  Sam  lifted  his  head  and  pawed  the 
ground  when  Archie  placed  his  foot  in  the 
stirrup.  Scarcely  waiting  for  their  riders  to  be- 
come firmly  seated  in  their  saddles,  the  horses 
started  down  the  road  at  a  rattling  pace,  and 
the  dog  dashed  through  the  bushes  and  grass 
on  each  side,  driving  the  rabbits  from  their 
covers,  and  creating  great  consternation  among 
flocks  of  quails  and  prairie-chickens,  which 
flew  up  at  his  approach. 

The  farther  the  boys  went,  the  faster  they 
went;  for  Roderick  and  Sleepy  Sam,  warming 
at  their  work,  and  encouraged,  perhaps,  by 


COLONEL   ARTHUR  VANE.  97 

some  slight  touches  from  their  riders'  spurs, 
increased  their  speed  until  they  fairly  flew  over 
the  ground ;  and  Marmion,  unwilling  to  remain 
behind,  left  the  quails  and  rabbits  to  rest  in  se- 
curity for  that  morning  at  least,  and  ran  along 
beside  his  master,  now  and  then  looking  up 
into  his  face,  and  uttering  a  little  yelp,  as  if  he 
were  trying  to  tell  how  well  he  enjoyed  the 
sport. 

"Now,  isn't  this  glorious?"  exclaimed  Ar- 
chie, pulling  off  his  sombrero,  and  holding  open 
his  jacket,  to  catch  every  breath  of  the  fresh 
morning  air.  "  Let 's  go  faster.  Yip !  yip !  " 

The  horses  understood  that  yell.  They  had 
heard  it  before;  and,  knowing  that  it  meant  a 
race,  they  set  off  at  the  top  of  their  speed.  But 
the  race  was  not  a  long  one;  for  the  old  buf- 
falo hunter,  fast  as  he  was,  soon  fell  behind. 
The  gray  flew  over  the  ground,  as  swiftly  as  a 
bird  on  the  wing,  and,  after  allowing  him  a 
free  rein  for  a  short  distance,  to  show  Archie 
how  badly  he  could  beat  him,  Frank  stopped, 
and  waited  for  him  to  come  up. 

The  four  miles  were  quickly  accomplished, 
and,  presently,  the  boys  drew  up  at  the  door  of 
7 


98     FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

Mr.   Harris's    farm-house,   where   they  found 
Johnny  waiting  to  receive  them. 

"How  are  you,  strangers?"  cried  Johnny. 
<{  Get  down  and  make  those  posts  fast  to  your 
horses,  and  come  in." 

This  was  the  way  travelers  were  welcomed 
in  that  country,  where  every  house  was  a  hotel, 
and  every  farmer  ready,  at  all  times,  to  feed 
and  shelter  a  stranger. 

"  How  is  the  rifle-shot,  this  morning  ?"  con- 
tinued Johnny,  as  he  shook  hands  with  the 
boys ;  "  and  what  news  has  the  champion  horse- 
man to  communicate?" 

"  I  did  n't  claim  to  be  the  champion  horse- 
man," said  Archie,  quickly.  "  I  am  not  con- 
ceited enough  to  believe  that  I  can  beat  you 
riding  wild  horses,  but  I  '11  tell  you  what  I  can 
do,  Johnny.  In  a  fair  race  from  here  to  the 
mountains,  I  can  leave  you  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
behind." 

"Well,  come  in,  and  wait  till  I  saddle  my 
horse,  and  we'll  see  about  that,"  said  Johnny. 
"Until  you  came  here,  I  could  beat  any  boy  in 
the  settlement.  I  give  in  to  Frank,  but  I  can 
show  that  ugly  old  buffalo  hunter  of  yours  a 


COLONEL   ARTHUR  VANJJ  88 

pretty  pair  of  heels.  Boys!"  he  added,  .sud- 
denly, "my  day's  fun  is  all  knocked  iu  the 
head.  See  there!" 

The  cousins  looked  in  the  direction  indicated, 
and  saw  a  horsemin  approaching  at  a  rapid 
gallop.  He  was  mounted  on  a  large  iron-gray, 
which  looked  enough  like  Roderick  to  have 
been  his  brother,  sat  as  straight  as  an  arrow  in 
his  saddle,  and  managed  his  fiery  charger  with 
an  ease  and  dexterity  that  showed  him  to  be  an 
accomplished  rider. 

"That's  Colonel  Arthur  Vane — a  neighbor 
with  whom  you  are  not  yet  acquainted,"  said 
Johnny,  with  strong  emphasis  on  the  word 
colonel.  "  He  is  from  Kentucky.  His  fat'  er 
came  to  this  country  about  six  months  since, 
and  bought  the  ranch o  adjoining  your  uncle's. 
Arthur  remained  here  long  enough  for  Dick 
and  me  to  become  as  well  acquainted  with  him 
as  we  cared  to  be,  and  then  went  back  to  Ken- 
tucky to  visit  his  friends.  He  returned  a  few 
days  ago,  and  now  we  may  make  up  our  mirda 
to  have  him  for  a  companion." 

""What  sort  of  a  fellow  is  he,  Johnny?" 
asked  Frank. 


100   FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

"  I  do  n't  admire  him,"  replied  Johnny,  who, 
like  Archie,  never  hesitated  to  speak  his  mind 
very  freely.  "  From  what  I  have  seen  of  him, 
I  should  say  that  he  is  not  a  boy  who  is  calcu- 
lated to  make  friends.  He  talks  and  brags  too 
much.  He  tries  to  use  big  words  in  conversa- 
tion, and  criticises  every  one  around  him  most 
unmercifully.  He  is  one  of  those  knowing  fel- 
lows; but,  after  you  have  exchanged  a  few 
words  with  him,  you  will  find  that  he  does  n't 
know  so  very  much  after  all.  He  has  been  all 
over  the  world,  if  we  are  to  believe  what  he 
says,  and  has  been  the  hero  of  adventures  that 
throw  your  encounter  with  Pierre  Costello  into 
the  shade.  He  carries  no  less  than  seven  bul- 
lets in  his  body." 

"Seven  bullets!"  echoed  Archie.  "Why,  I 
should  think  they  would  kill  him." 

"  So  they  would,  most  likely,  if  he  only  had 
them  in  him,"  replied  Johnny.  "He  is  a  fa- 
mous hunter  and  trapper,  owns  two  splendid 
horses,  a  pack  of  hounds,  three  or  four  fine 
guns,  and  makes  himself  hot  and  happy  in  a 
suit  cf  buckskin.  If  it  were  not  for  his  smooth 
face  anl  dandy  airs,  one  would  take  him  for 


COLONEL  ARTHUR  VANE.  101 

Rome  old  mountain  man.  He  gave  Dick  and 
me  a  short  history  of  his  life — which  he  will 
be  sure  to  repeat  for  your  benefit — and  wag 
foolish  enough  to  believe  that  we  were  as  green 
as  two  pumpkins  because  we  had  never  been  iu 
the  States,  and  that  we  would  swallow  any 
thing.  But,  if  we  have  always  lived  in  a  wil- 
derness, we  have  not  neglected  our  books,  and 
we  are  well  enough  posted  to  know  that  Arthur 
makes  great  mistakes  sometimes." 

"  But  why  is  your  day's  fun  all  knocked  in 
the  head?"  asked  Archie. 

"  Because  I  can't  enjoy  myself  when  Arthur 
is  around.  I  am  always  afraid  that  I  shall  do 
or  say  something  that  he  won't  like.  Every 
time  I  look  at  him,  I  am  reminded  of  Byron's 
Corsair,  who,  you  know,  was 

' the  mildest  mannered  man 

That  ever  scuttled  ship  or  cut  a  throat.' 

I  do  n't  mean  to  say  that  Arthur  would  cut  any 
body's  throat,  but  I  do  say  that  if  he  should 
happen  to  get  angry  at  any  of  us,  we  shall  wish 
him  safe  in  Kentucky,  where  he  belongs.  I 
can't  very  well  avoid  introducing  him,  but, 


102    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

after  what  I  have   said,  you  will  understand 
that  I  do  not  indorse  him." 

The  conversation  was  brought  to  a  close  by 
the  near  approach  of  Arthur  Vane,  who  pres- 
ently dashed  up  to  the  porch,  and  dismounted. 
Frank  and  Archie  made  a  rapid  examination 
of  the  new-comer.  He  was  dressed  in  a  full 
suit  of  buckskin — hunting-shirt,  leggins,  and 
moccasins,  the  latter  ornamented  with  bright- 
colored  beads — which  set  off  his  tall,  slender, 
well-knit  frame  to  good  advantage.  He  evi- 
dently possessed  a  fair  share  of  muscle  and 
agility,  and  that,  according  to  Archie's  way  of 
thinking,  was  a  great  recommendation.  He 
little  dreamed  that  his  own  pluck,  strength, 
and  endurance  would  one  day  be  severely  tested 
by  that  boy  in  buckskin. 

Arthur's  weapons  were  objects  of  no  less 
curiosity  to  the  cousins  than  his  dress.  Instead 
of  the  short,  light  rifle  in  which  the  boys  of  that 
country  took  so  much  delight,  and  which  was 
so  handy  to  be  used  on  horseback,  he  carried  a 
double-barrel  shot-gun  as  long  as  himself,  elab- 
orately ornamented,  and  the  boys  judged,  from 
the  way  he  handled  it,  that  it  must  be  very  heavy. 


COLONEL  ARTHUR   VAXE.  103 

From  his  belt  protruded  the  buckhoru  handle 
of  a  sheath-knife,  and  the  bright,  polished  head 
of  an  Indian  tomahawk.  The  lasso  was  no- 
where to  be  seen. 

When  the  boys  had  noted  these  points,  they 
glanced  at  the  face  of  the  new-comer.  It  waa 
a  handsome  face,  and  might  have  made  a  favor- 
able impression  on  them,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  haughty  glances  which  its  owner  directed 
toward  them  as  he  rode  up. 

"  He  looks  at  us  as  though  he  thought  we 
had  no  business  here,"  whispered  Archie,  as 
Johnny  went  down  the  steps  to  receive  the 
visitor. 

"A  second  Charley  Morgan,"  replied  his 
cousin. 

"  If  he  is  blessed  with  Morgan's  amiable  dis- 
position," returned  Archie,  "  we  '11  see  fun  be- 
fore we  are  done  with  him." 

"Frank  Nelson,"  said  Johnny,  leading  hig 
visitor  upon  the  porch,  "  this  is  our  new  neigh- 
bor, Arthur  Vane." 

"Colonel  of  the  Second  Kentucky  Cavalry 
during  the  Florida  war,  and,  for  a  short  time 
captain  of  the  scouts  attached  to  the  head-quar- 


104   FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEBOS. 

ters  of  the  general  commanding  the  department 
of  the  plains,"  said  Arthur,  in  dignified  tones, 
drawing  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  and  look- 
ing at  Frank  as  if  to  ask,  What  do  you  think 
of  me,  anyhow? 

"How  do  you  do?"  said  Frank,  accepting 
Vane's  proffered  hand.  He  did  not  say  that 
he  was  glad  to  see  him,  or  happy  to  make  his 
acquaintance,  for  he  was  n't. 

"Archie  Winters,  Colonel  Vane,"  continued 
Johnny,  "  formerly  commander  of  the  Second 
Kentucky — ahem ! " 

Johnny  was  going  on  to  repeat  Arthur's 
pompous  speech,  when  he  saw  Archie  biting 
his  lip,  and  knew  that  it  was  time  for  him  to 
stop. 

"How  are  you,  Colonel?"  said  Archie,  as 
sober  as  a  judge. 

"I  can  not  complain  of  my  health,"  replied 
Arthur,  still  holding  Frank's  hand  with  his 
right,  while  he  extended  his  left  to  Archie,  in 
much  the  same  manner  that  a  monarch  might 
have  given  his  hand  to  a  kneeling  subject. 
"The  musket-ball  that  Osceola  sent  through 
my  shoulder  sometimes  troubles  me  a  little;  but 


COLONEL   ARTHUR   VANE.  105 

I  am  so  accustomed  to  wounds  that  I  scarcely 
mind  it." 

"How  do  you  like  California,"  inquired 
Frank,  thinking  that  he  ought  to  say  aojae- 
Ihing. 

"  O,  I  like  the  country  well  enough  ;  but  be- 
longing, as  I  do,  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  wealth- 
iest families  of  the  State  of  Kentucky,  I  can  find 
no  congenial  society  among  these  backwoods- 
men." 

Frank  had  no  reply  to  make  to  this  declara- 
tion. That  one  remark  had  revealed  as  much 
of  the  character  of  Arthur  Vane  as  he  cared  to 
become  acquainted  with.  The  latter  evidently 
looked  upon  himself  as  something  better  than 
the  common  herd  of  mankind,  and  Frank  won- 
dered why  he  did  not  stay  at  home,  if  he  could 
find  no  pleasure  in  the  society  of  the  boys  of 
*,hat  country. 

"  I  have  heard  of  you,"  continued  Arthur, 
loftily ;  "  and  I  understand  that  you  are  looked 
upon  as  a  hero  in  this  settlement." 

;  I  do  not  claim  the  honor,"  modestly  replied 
Frank. 

"I  have  always  observed,"  the  visitor  went 


106    FBANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

cn  to  say,  "that  the  ideas  which  ignorant  peo- 
ple entertain  concerning  heroes  are  ludicrous  in 
the  extreme.  Now,  I  have  met  with  more  ad- 
ventures than  generally  fall  to  the  lot  of  mcr- 
tals;  but,  being  a  modest  young  man,  I  hs>re 
never  allowed  any  one  to  apply  that  name  to 
me.  I  have  been  in  battles — desperate  battles. 
I  have  seen  the  cheek  of  the  bravest  blanched 
with  terror ;  but  I  never  flinched.  Twice  have 
I  been  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians, 
and  once  I  was  bound  to  the  stake.  I  have 
whipped  a  grizzly  bear  in  a  fair  fight,  with  no 
weapon  but  my  knife,  and  I  can  show  seven 
honorable  scars,  made  by  as  many  bullets,  which 
I  carry  in  my  body  to-day." 

Here  Arthur  stopped  to  take  breath,  and 
looked  at  his  auditors  as  if  waiting  for  applause. 
Frank  and  Archie  had  nothing  to  say,  but 
Johnny  observed : 

"You  have  seen  some  rough  times  for  one 
of  your  age." 

"  Rough ! "  repeated  Arthur,  with  evident 
disgust.  "  Do  n't  use  such  words — they  are  so 
vulgar.  Thrilling,  or  exciting,  would  sou  ad 
much  better." 


COLONEL  ARTHUR   VANE.  107 

"  I  stand  corrected,"  remarked  Johnny,  very 
gravely,  while  Archie  coughed,  and  Frank 
turned  away  his  head  to  conceal  his  laughter. 

"I  can  not  begin  to  convey  to  you  even  a 
slight  idea  of  what  I  have  endured,"  said  Ar- 
thur, as  if  nothing  had  happened.  "  It  is  true 
that  I  am  young  in  years,  but  I  am  old  in 
experience.  I  have  knoAvn  every  variety  of 
danger  incident  to  a  reckless  and  roving  life. 
I  have  skirmished  with  Arabs  on  the  burning 
sands  of  Patagonia ;  have  hunted  the  ferocious 
polar  bear  amid  the  icebergs  of  India;  have 
followed  lions  and  tigers  througli  thejungles  and 
forests  of  Europe ;  have  risked  my  life  in  four 
different  battles  with  the  Algerines,  and,  on 
one  occasion,  was  captured  by  those  murderous 
villains.  If  adventures  make  the  hero,  I  can 
certainly  lay  claim  to  that  honor  as  well  as  any- 
body." 

As  the  visitor  ceased  speaking,  he  looked 
suspiciously  at  the  three  boys  before  him.  two 
of  whom  seemed  to  be  strangely  affected  by 
the  recital  of  his  thrilling  adventures.  Frank 
had  grown  very  red  in  the  face,  while  Johnny 
was  holding  his  handkerchief  over  his  mouth, 


108    FKANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

trying  to  restrain  a  violent  fit  of  coughing  with 
which  he  had  suddenly  been  seized.  Archie 
was  the  only  one  who  could  keep  a  straight 
face.  He  stood  with  his  hands  behind  his  back, 
his  feet  spread  out,  his  sombrero  pushed  as  far 
back  on  his  head  as  he  could  get  it,  looking  in- 
tently at  Arthur,  as  if  he  were  very  much  in- 
terested in  what  he  was  saying.  He  came  to 
the  relief  of  the  others,  however,  by  observ- 
ing: 

"  If  I  had  seen  all  those  countries  you  speak 
of,  Vane,  I  should  be  proud  of  it.  No  one  de- 
lights more  in  truthful  stories  of  adventure 
than  I  do,  and,  if  you  have  no  objection,  we 
will  sit  down  here  and  talk,  while  Johnny 
saddles  his  horse.  We  are  going  over  to  visit 
old  Captain  Porter.  You  will  go  with  us,  of 
course?" 

"Certainly.  I  have  often  heard  of  Captain 
Porter,  and  I  shall  be  pleased  to  make  his  ac- 
quaintance. He  and  I  can  talk  over  our  ad- 
ventures, and  you  can  listen,  and  you  will,  no 
doubt,  learn  something." 

Johnny,  knowing  that  Frank  wanted  some 
excuse  to  get  away  where  he  could  enjoy  a 


UU.OM:L  ARTHUR  VANE.  109 

hearty  laugh,  asked  him  to  assist  in  catching 
his  horse;  and,  together,  they  went  toward  the 
barn,  leaving  Archie  behind  to  listen  to  Arthur's 
stories. 


110         FRANK  AMONG  THE   KANCJIEBO8. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

AN  OLD   BOY. 

T)Y  the  exercise  of  wonderful  self-control, 
*-*  Frank  and  Johnny  succeeded  in  restraining 
their  risibilities  until  they  reached  the  barn, 
and  then  one  leaned  against  the  door-post, 
while  the  other  seated  himself  upon  the  floor, 
both  holding  their  sides,  and  giving  vent  to 
peals  of  uproarious  laughter. 

"  O  dear !"  exclaimed  Frank,  "  I  shall  never 
dare  look  that  fellow  in  the  face  again.  'Ice- 
bergs of  India ! '  '  Burning  sands  of  Patago- 
nia ! '  How  my  jaws  ache ! " 

"I  wonder  what  part  of  Europe  he  visited 
to  find  his  lions  and  tigers?"  said  Johnny. 
"And  how  do  you  suppose  he  escaped  from  the 
Indians  when  they  had  him  bound  to  the  stake? 
We  must  ask  him  about  that." 

"How  old  is  he?"  inquired  Frank. 

"He  says  he  is  sixteen." 


AN   OLD    BOY.  Ill 

"  Well,  lie  is  older  than  that,  if  he  risked  his 
life  in  battles  with  the  Algerians;  for,  if  my 
memory  serves  me,  Decatur  settled  our  accounts 
with  those  gentlemen  in  the  year  1815.  That 
would  make  our  new  friend  old  enough  to  be  a 
grandfather.  He  holds  his  age  well,  does  n't 
he?" 

Then  the  two  boys  looked  up  at  the  rafters, 
and  laughed  louder  than  ever. 

"I  remember  of  hearing  old  Captain  Porter 
say,"  observed  Johnny,  as  soon  as  he  could 
speak,  "  that  the  strongest  and  most  active  man 
that  ever  lived  could  not  whip  a  grizzly  in  a 
fair  fight;  and  that  the  bravest  hunter  would 
take  to  his  heels  if  he  found  himself  in  close 
quarters  with  one  of  those  animals,  and  would 
not  think  he  was  guilty  of  cowardice,  either." 

"And  what  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes 
confirms  it,"  said  Frank.  "While  we  were 
camped  at  the  Old  Bear's  Hole,  Dick  Lewis  got 
into  a  fight  with  a  grizzly,  and,  although  it 
did  n't  last  more  than  half  a  minute,  he  was  so 
badly  cut  up  that  his  own  mother  wouldn't 
have  recognized  him.  Dick  is  a  giant  in 
strength,  and  as  quick  as  a  cat  in  his  move- 


112   FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

ments,  and  if  he  can't  whip  a  grizzly,  I  am  sure 
that  Arthur  Vane  can't." 

"Humph!"  said  Johnny,  "he  never  saw  a 
grizzly.  I  never  did  either,  and  there  are 
plenty  of  them  in  this  country.  Arthur  had 
better  be  careful  how  he  talks  in  Captain  Por- 
ter's hearing.  The  rough  old  fellow  will  see 
through  him  in  an  instant,  and  he  may  not  be 
as  careful  of  his  feelings  as  we  have  been." 

Johnny,  having  by  this  time  saddled  his 
horse,  he  and  Frank  returned  to  the  house, 
where  they  found  Archie  deeply  interested  in 
one  of  Arthur's  stories.  "That  is  high  up,  I 
should  think,"  they  heard  the  former  say. 

"  Yes,  higher  than  the  tops  of  these  trees, 
replied  Arthur.  "  I  was  relating  some  of  the 
incidents  of  one  of  my  voyages  at  sea,"  he  con- 
tinued, addressing  himself  to  Frank.  "  I  waa 
telling  Archie  how  I  used  to  stand  on  the  very 
top  of  the  mast  and  look  out  for  whales." 

"Which  mast?"  asked  Frank. 

""Why,  the  middle  mast,  of  course.  What's 
the  matter  with  you?"  he  added,  turning  sud- 
denly upon  Archie,  who  seemed  to  be  on  the 
point  of  strangling. 


AN    OLD    BOY.  113 

"  Nothing,"  was  the  reply,  "  only  something 
got  stuck  in  my  throat." 

Arthur  had  taken  up  a  dangerous  subject 
when  he  began  to  talk  about  nautical  matters; 
for  they  were  something  in  which  Frank  and 
his  cousin  had  always  been  interested,  and  were 
well  posted.  Archie  lived  in  a  sea-port  town, 
and,  although  he  had  never  been  a  sailor,  he 
knew  the  names  of  all  the  ropes,  and  could  talk 
as  "salt"  as  any  old  tar.  He  knew,  and  so  did 
Frank,  that  what  Arthur  had  called  the  "mid- 
dle mast,"  was  known  on  shipboard  as  the 
mainmast.  They  knew  that  the  "  very  top"  of 
the  mainmast  was  called  the  main  truck;  and 
that  the  look-outs  were  not  generally  stationed 
so  high  up  in  the  world. 

"  We  can  talk  as  we  ride  along,"  said  Johnny. 
"We  have  ten  miles  to  go,  and  we  ought  to 
reach  the  captain's  by  twelve  o'clock.  The  old 
fellow  tells  a  capital  story  over  his  after-dinner 
pipe." 

The  boys  mounted  their  horses,  and,  led  by 
Johnny,  galloped  off  in  the  direction  of  the  old 
fur-trader's  ranch.  They  rode  in  silence  for  a 

few  minutes,  and  then  Archie  said: 
8 


114         FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCHEROS. 

"  If  you  would  n't  think  me  too  inquisttive, 
Arthur,  I  'd  like  to  know  at  what  age  you  be- 
gan your  travels?" 

"  At  the  age  of  eleven/'  was  the  prompt  re- 
ply, "I  was  a  midshipman  in  the  navy,  and 
made  my  first  voyage  under  the  gallant  De- 
catur.  I  spent  four  years  at  sea  with  him,  and 
during  that  time  I  had  those  terrible  fights 
with  the  Algerines,  of  which  I  have  before 
spoken.  In  the  last  battle,  I  was  captured,  and 
compelled  to  walk  the  plank. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  "  asked  Johnny, 
who  had  never  devoted  any  of  his  time  to  yel- 
low-coVered  literature. 

"Why,  you  must  know  that  the  inhabitants 
of  Algiers,  and  the  adjacent  countries,  were,  at 
one  time,  nothing  but  pirates.  When  they  cap- 
tured a  vessel,  their  first  hard  work,  after  tak- 
ing care  of  the  valuable  part  of  the  cargo,  was 
to  dispose  of  their  prisoners.  It  was  too  much 
trouble  to  set  them  ashore,  so  they  balanced  a 
plank  out  of  one  of  the  gangways — one  end  being 
out  over  the  water,  and  the  other  on  board  the 
ship.  The  pirates  placed  their  feet  on  the  end 
inboard,  to  hold  it  in  its  place,  and  then  ordered 


AN   OLD   BOY.  115 

their  prisoners,  one  at  a  time,  to  walk  out  on 
the  plank.  Of  course,  they  were  compelled  to 
obey ;  and,  when  they  got  out  to  the  end  of  the 
plank  over  the  water,  the  pirates  lifted  up  their 
feet,  and  down  went  the  prisoners;  and  they 
generally  found  their  way  to  the  bottom,  in  a 
hurry.  I  escaped  by  swimming.  I  was  in  the 
water  twenty-four  hours,  and  was  picked  up  by 
a  vessel  bound  to  New  York." 

"I  suppose  you  had  a  life-preserver,"  said 
Johnny. 

"No,  sir.  I  had  nothing  to  depend  upon 
but  my  own  exertions." 

"  You  must  be  some  relation  to  a  duck,"  said 
Archie,  speaking  before  he  thought. 

"  I  suppose  you  mean  to  convey  the  idea  that 
I  am  an  excellent  swimmer,"  said  Arthur,  turn- 
ing around  in  his  saddle,  and  looking  sharply 
at  Archie. 

"Yes;  that's  what  I  intended  to  say,"  re- 
plied Archie,  demurely. 

"The  vessel  landed  me  in  New  York,"  con- 
tinued Arthur,  "and  I  went  home;  and,  hav- 
ing become  tired  of  wandering  about,  and  our 
troubles  with  Algiers  being  settled,  I  led  the 


116        FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

quiet  life  of  a  student  until  the  Florida  war 
broke  out,  and  then  I  enlisted  in  the  army.*' 

"  Now,  then,"  thought  Archie,  who  had  been 
paying  strict  attention  to  all  Arthur  said,  "I 
have  got  a  basis  for  a  calculation,  and  I  am  go- 
ing to  find  out  i  ow  old  this  new  friend  of  ours 
is.  War  was  declared  against  Algeria  (not  Al- 
giers) in  March,  1815 ;  and  on  the  30th  day  of 
June,  in  the  same  year,  the  Dey  cried  for  quar- 
ter, and  signed  a  treaty  of  peace.  If  Arthur 
began  his  wanderings  at  eleven,  and  spent  four 
years  with  Decatur,  he  must  have  been  fifteen 
years  old  when  the  war  closed.  After  that,  he 
led  the  quiet  life  of  a  student  until  the  Florida 
war  broke  out.  That  commenced  in  1835 ; 
BO  Arthur  must  have  spent  just  twenty  years  at 
school.  By  the  way,  it's  a  great  pity  that  he 
did  n't  devote  a  portion  of  his  time  to  geogra- 
phy and  natural  history,  for  then  he  would 
have  known  that  there  are  no  icebergs  and  po- 
lar bears  in  India,  or  Arabs  and  burning  sands 
in  Patagonia,  or  wild  lions  and  tigers  in  Eu- 
rope. If  he  spent  twenty  years  at  school,  and 
was  fifteen  years  old  when  he  had  those  terri- 
ble battles  with  the  Algerians,  he  must  have 


AN   OLD   BOY.  117 

been  thirty-five  years  old  when  the  Florida 
war  broke  out." 

"Did  you  go  through  the  war?"  Johnny 
asked. 

"I  did." 

"How  long  did  it  last?"  inquired  Frank, 
"and  what  was  the  cause  of  it?" 

"It  continued  nearly  two  years,  and  was 
brought  about  by  the  hatred  the  Choctawa 
cherished  toward  the  white  people." 

"Three  mistakes  there,"  thought  Archie. 
"The  war  lasted  seven  years,  and  cost  our 
Government  forty  millions  of  dollars.  The 
Choctaws  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  was 
the  Seminoles  and  Creeks — principally  the  for- 
mer. The  immediate  cause  of  the  trouble  was 
the  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to 
remove  those  tribes  to  the  country  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  They  did  n't  want  to  go,  and  they 
were  determined  they  wouldn't;  and,  conse- 
quently, they  got  themselves  decently  whipped. 
If  Arthur  was  thirty-five  years  of  age  when  he 
went  into  the  war,  and  spent  two  years  in  it, 
he  was  thirty-seven  when  he  came  out." 

"After  the  war  closed,"  continued  Arthur, 


118    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

UI  went  to  Patagonia,  and  there  I  spent  five 
years." 

"Thirty-seven  and  five  are  forty-two,"  said 
Archie,  to  himself. 

"  I  had  a  great  many  thrilling  adventures  in 
Patagonia.  The  country  is  one  immense  desert, 
and  being  directly  under  the  equator,  it  is — if 
you  will  for  once  allow  me  to  use  a  slang  ex- 
pression— as  hot  as  a  frying-pan.  The  Arabs 
are  hostile,  and  are  more  troublesome  than  ever 
the  Indians  were  on  the  plains.  From  Patago- 
nia 1  went  to  Europe,  and  there  I  spent  six 
years  in  hunting  lions  and  tigers." 

"  Forty-eight,"  thought  Archie ;  "  and  Pata- 
gonia is  n't  under  the  equator,  either." 

"  That  must  have  been  exciting,"  said  Frank, 
while  Johnny  looked  over  his  shoulder,  and 
grinned  at  Archie. 

"  It  was  indeed  exciting,  and  dangerous,  too. 
It  takes  a  man  with  nerves  of  iron  to  stand 
perfectly  still,  and  let  a  roaring  lion  walk  up 
•within  ten  paces  of  him,  before  he  puts  a  bullet 
through  his  head." 

"Could  you  do  it?" 

"Could  I?     I  have  done  it  more  than  once. 


AN  OLD   BOY.  119 

If  one  of  those  ferocious  animals  were  here 
now,  I  would  give  you  a  specimen  of  my  shoot- 
ing, which  is  an  accomplishment  in  which  I  can 
not  be  beaten.  I  expect  that  you  would  be  so 
badly  frightened  that  you  would  desert  me,  and 
leave  me  to  fight  him  alone." 

"  Would  n't  you  run  ?" 

"Not  an  inch." 

"Would  you  fire  that  blunderbuss  at  him?" 
asked  Johnny. 

"  Blunderbuss  ?"  repeated  Arthur. 

"  That  shot-gun,  I  mean." 

"Certainly  I  would.  You  see  I  have  the 
nerve  to  do  it.  From  Europe  I  went  to  India, 
and  there  I  risked  my  life  for  six  years  more 
among  the  polar  bears." 

"Forty-eight  and  six  are  fifty-four,"  solilo- 
quized Archie. 

"After  that  I  went  to  the  plains,  where  1 
remained  three  years ;  and  when  the  governor 
vrr  >te  to  me  that  he  was  about  to  remove  from 
Kentucky,  I  resigned  my  commission  as  captain 
of  scouts,  and  here  I  am.  I  must  confess  that 
I  am  sorry  enough  for  it;  for  I  never  saw  a 
duller  country  than  California.  There 's  no 


120        FRANK   A.MONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

society  here,  no  excitement — nothing  to  stir  up 
a  fellow's  blood." 

"  Fifty-four  and  three  are  fifty-seven,"  said 
Archie. 

Arthur  had  evidently  finished  the  history  of 
his  exploits,  for  he  had  nothing  more  to  say  just 
then.  Archie,  after  waiting  a  few  minutes  for 
him  to  resume  his  narrative,  pulled  his  som- 
brero down  over  his  eyes,  and  thrust  his  hands 
into  his  pockets — two  movements  he  always 
executed  when  he  wished  to  concentrate  his 
mind  upon  any  thing — and  began  to  ponder 
upon  what  he  had  just  heard. 

"Vane,"  said  he,  suddenly,  an  idea  striking 
him,  "  who  commanded  your  vessel  when  you 
were  captured  ?" 

Arthur  knitted  his  brows,  and  looked  down 
at  the  horn  of  his  saddle,  as  if  thinking  in- 
tently, and  finally  said  :  "  Why,  it  was  Mr. , 

Mr. ;  I  declare,  I  have  forgotten  his  name." 

Archie  again  relapsed  into  silence. 

"  We  had  two  wars  with  those  j  irates," 
thought  he.  "  The  first  was  with  Tripoli ;  but 
as  that  happened  in  1805,  Arthur,  of  course, 
could  not  have  taken  part  in  it,  for  he  made  his 


AN    OLD    BOY.  121 

first  voyage  at  gea  in  1815.  We  lost  but  one 
vessel,  and  that  was  captured  in  1803 — two  years 
before  war  with  Tripoli  was  declared.  It  was  the 
frigate  Philadelphia,  and  she  was  n't  whipped, 
either,  but  was  run  aground  while  pursuing  a 
piratical  vessel.  She  was  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Bainbridge,  who  surrendered  himself  and 
crew.  They  were  not  compelled  to  'walk  the 
plank/  however,  but  were  reduced  to  a  horrible 
captivity,  and  treated  worse  than  dogs.  The 
Tripolitans  never  got  a  chance  to  use  the  Phil- 
adelphia against  us,  for  Decatur — who  was  at 
that  time  a  lieutenant  serving  under  Commo- 
dore Preble,  who  commanded  our  navy  in  those 
waters — boarded  her  one  night  with  twenty 
men  while  she  was  lying  in  the  harbor,  swept 
the  deck  of  more  than  double  that  number  of 
pirates,  burned  the  vessel  under  their  very 
noses,  and  returned  to  his  ship  with  only  one 
man  wounded.  I  never  did  care  much  for  his- 
tory, but  a  fellow  finds  a  great  deal  of  satisfac- 
tion sometimes  in  knowing  a  little  about  it." 

Archie  had  at  first  been  highly  amused  by 
what  Arthur  had  to  say;  but  now,  that  the 
novelty  had  somewhat  worn  off",  he  began  to 


122         FRANK  AMONG  THE   EANCHEROS. 

wonder  how  it  was  possible  for  a  boy  to  look 
another  in  the  face  and  tell  such  improbable 
stories.  If  Arthur  was  not  ashamed  of  himself 
Archie  was  heartily  ashamed  for  him,  and  he 
was  more  than  half  inclined  to  put  spurs  to 
Sleepy  Sam  and  start  for  home.  He  was  not 
fond  of  such  company. 

Arthur  Vane  is  not  an  imaginary  character. 
There  are  a  great  many  like  him  in  the  world, 
boys,  and  men,  too,  who  endeavor  to  make 
amends  for  the  absence  of  real  merit  by  re- 
counting just  such  impossible  exploits.  The 
result,  however,  is  always  the  exact  reverse  of 
what  they  wish  it  to  be.  Instead  of  impressing 
their  auditors  with  a  sense  of  their  great  im- 
portance, they  only  succeed  in  awakening  in 
their  minds  feelings  of  pity  and  contempt. 

After  Arthur  had  finished  the  history  of  his 
life,  he  rode  along  whistling  snatches  of  the 
"Hunter's  Chorus,"  happy  in  the  belief  that 
his  reputation  was  established.  Well,  it  was 
established,  but  how?  Archie  thought:  "  Brag 
is  a  splendid  dog,  but  Holdfast  is  better.  Per- 
haps we  may  have  a  chance  to  test  the  courage 
of  this  mighty  man  of  valor." 


AN   OLD   BOY.  123 

Johnny  soliloquized :  "  Does  this  fellow  im- 
agine that  we  are  green  enough  to  believe  that 
he  would  stand  and  let  a  lion  walk  up  within 
ten  paces  of  him  ?  Hump  !  a  good-sized  rab- 
bi t  would  scare  him  to  death." 

Frank,  who  had  taken  but  little  part  in  the 
conversation,  told  himself  that  he  had  never 
become  acquainted  with  a  boy  as  deserving  of 
pity  as  was  Arthur  Vane.  He  was  not  a  desir- 
able companion,  and  Frank  hoped  that  he  would 
not  often  be  thrown  into  his  society. 

For  a  long  time  the  boys  rode  in  silence, 
keeping  their  horses  in  an  easy  gallop,  and 
presently  they  entered  the  woods  that  fringed 
the  base  of  the  mountains,  through  which  ran 
a  bridle-path  that  led  toward  the  old  fur-trad- 
er's ranch.  Two  young  hounds  belonging  to 
Johnny  led  the  way,  Johnny  came  next,  and 
Frank  and  Archie  brought  up  the  rear.  They 
had  ridden  in  this  order  for  a  short  distance, 
when  the  singular  movements  of  the  hounds 
attracted  their  attention,  and  caused  them  to 
draw  rein.  The  dogs  stood  in  the  path,  snuf- 
fing the  air,  and  gazing  intently  at  the  bushes 
in  advance  of  them,  and  then,  suddenly  uttering 


124        FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCH  EROS. 

a  dismal  howl,  they  ran  back  to  the  boys,  and 
took  refuge  behind  them.  At  the  same  instant, 
the  horse  on  which  Johnny  was  mounted  arose 
on  his  hind  feet,  turned  square  around,  and,  in 
spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  his  rider  to  stop  him, 
dashed  by  the  others,  and  went  down  the  path 
at  the  top  of  his  speed. 

"Good-by,  fellows,"  shouted  Johnny;  "and 

look  out  for  yourselves,  for  there  is  " 

"What  else  Johnny  said  the  boys  could  not 
understand,  for  the  clatter  of  his  horse's  hoofs 
drowned  his  voice,  and  in  a  moment  he  was  out 
of  sight  among  the  trees. 

"  There 's  something  in  those  bushes,"  said 
Frank,  with  difficulty  restraining  his  own  horse, 
which  seemed  determined  to  follow  Johnny, 
"  and  who  knows  but  it  might  be  a  grizzly  ?" 

"  I  am  quite  sure  it  is,"  said  Archie.  "  Do  n't 
you  remember  how  badly  frightened  Pete  used 
to  be  when  there  was  one  of  those  varmints 
around  ?" 

As  Archie  said  this,  the  bushes  were  violently 
agitated,  and  the  twigs  cracked  and  snapped  as 
if  some  heavy  body  was  forcing  its  way  through 
them.  The  hounds,  waiting  to  hear  no  more, 


AN  OLD   BOY.  126 

turned  and  fled  down  the  path,  leaving  the 
boys  to  themselves.  Frank  turned  and  looked 
at  Arthur.  Could  it  be  possible  that  the  pale, 
terror-stricken  youth  he  saw  before  him  was  the 
one  who  but  a  few  moments  ago  had  boasted  so 
loudly  of  his  courage?  That  noise  in  the 
bushes  had  produced  a  great  chang*  in  him. 


126    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHERO8 


CHAPTER    X. 

ARTHUR  SHOWS   HIS   COURAGE 

TT  must  not  be  yupposed  that  Ydnak  and 
•^  Archie  were  entirely  unmoved  by  what  had 
just  happened.  The  strange  conduct  of  the 
hounds,  and  the  desperate  flight  of  Johnny's 
horse,  were  enough  to  satisfy  them  that  there 
was  some  dangerous  animal  in  the  bushes  in 
front  of  them,  and  the  uncertainty  of  what  that 
animal  might  be,  caused  them  no  little  uneasi- 
ness. Grizzly  bears  were  frequently  met  with 
among  the  mountains,  and  they  sometimes  ex- 
tended their  excursions  into  the  plains,  occa- 
sioning a  general  stampede  among  the  stock  of 
the  nearest  ranch.  The  grizzly  is  as  much  the 
king  of  beasts  in  his  own  country  as  the  L'on 
in  Africa  and  Asia;  and  Frank  and  Archie, 
during  their  sojourn  at  the  Old  Bear's  Hole,  had 
become  well  enough  acquainted  with  his  habits 
and  disposition  to  know  that,  if  their  enemy  in 


ARTHUR  SHOWS   HIS   COURAGE.  127 

the  bushes  belonged  to  that  species,  they  were  in 
a  dangerous  neighborhood.  The  grizzly  might, 
at  any  moment,  assume  the  offensive,  and  in 
that -event,  if  their  horses  became  entangled  in 
the  bushes,  or  were  rendered  unmanageable  by 
fright,  their  destruction  was  certain.  This 
knowledge  caused  their  hearts  to  beat  a  trifle 
faster  than  usual,  and  Frank's  hand  trembled 
a  little  as  he  unbuckled  the  holsters  in  front 
of  his  saddle,  and  grasped  one  of  his  revolvers. 
But  neither  he  nor  Archie  had  any  intention 
of  discontinuing  their  journey,  or  of  leaving 
the  field  without  having  at  least  one  shot  at  the 
animal,  whatever  it  might  be. 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  Frank,  in  an  excited 
whisper,  "  we  have  a  splendid  chance  to  im- 
mortalize ourselves.  If  that  is  a  grizzly,  and 
we  should  be  fortunate  enough  to  kill  him,  it 
would  be  something  worth  bragging  about, 
would  n't  it  ?  If  I  only  had  my  rifle ! " 

"We  must  rely  upon  our  friend,  here,"  said 
Archie.  "  It 's  lucky  that  he  is  with  us,  for  he 
is  an  old  hunter,  and  he  won't  mind  riding 
into  the  bushes,  and  driving  him  out — will 
you,  Arthur?" 


128    FEANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

"  Eh !"  exclaimed  that  young  gentleman,  who 
trembled  so  violently  that  he  could  scarcely 
hold  his  reins. 

"  I  say,  that,  as  you  are  the  most  experienced 
in  such  matters,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  depend 
upon  you  to  drive  the  bear  out  of  the  bushes 
into  open  ground,"  repeated  Archie,  who  did 
not  appear  to  notice  his  friend's  trepidation. 
"  We  can't  all  go  in  there  to  attack  him,  for  he 
would  be  sure  to  catch  some  of  us.  What  have 
you  in  that  gun  ?" 

"  B-u-c-k-s-  h-o-t,"  replied  Arthur,  in  an  al- 
most inaudible  voice.  "  Let 's  go  home." 

"  Go  home !"  exclaimed  Frank ;  "  and  with- 
out even  one  shot  at  that  fellow !  No,  sir. 
You  've  got  the  only  gun  in  the  party,  and,  of 
course,  you  are  the  one  to  attack  him.  Go 
right  up  the  path,  and  when  you  see  him,  bang 
away." 

"  How  big  is  he  ?  "  asked  Arthur. 

"  Why,  if  he  is  a  full-grown  grizzly,  he  is  as 
big  as  a  cow." 

"Will  he  fight  much?" 

"I  should  say  he  would,"  answered  Archie, 
who  was  somewhat  surprised  at  these  questions. 


ARTHUR  SHOWS   HIS   COURAGE.  129 

"  Have  you  forgotten  the  one  you  killed  with 
your  knife  ?  He  will  be  certain  to  follow  you, 
if  you  do  n't  disable  him  at  the  first  shot,  but 
he  can't  catch  your  horse.  "  Besides,  as  soon 
as  he  comes  in  sight,  Frank  and  I  will  give 
him  a  volley  from  our  revolvers.  You  are  not 
afraid?" 

"  Afraid ! "  repeated  Arthur,  compressing  his 
lips,  and  scowling  fiercely.  "  O,  no." 

"Well,  then,  make  haste,"  said  Frank,  who 
was  beginning  to  get  impatient.  "  Ride  up 
within  ten  paces  of  him,  and  let  him  have  it. 
That 's  the  way  you  used  to  serve  the  lions  in 
Europe." 

"Yes,  go  on,"  urged  Archie;  and  he  gave 
Arthur's  horse  a  cut  with  his  whip,  to  hurry 
him  up. 

"  O,  stop  that !  "  whined  Arthur,  as  the  horse 
sprang  forward  so  suddenly  that  his  rider  was 
nearly  unseated.  "I  am  going  home." 

What  might  have  happened  next,  it  is  im- 
possible to  tell,  had  not  the  boys'  attention 
been  turned  from  Arthur  by  the  yelping  of 
a  dog  in  the  bushes  a  short  distance  up  the 
mountain. 
9 


130         FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCH  EROS. 

"  That 's  Carlo,"  exclaimed  Archie.  Now  we 
will  soon  know  what  sort  of  an  enemy  we  have 
to  deal  with." 

The  dog  was  evidently  following  the  trail  of 
the  bear,  for  he  broke  out  into  a  continuous 
baying,  which  grew  louder  and  fiercer  as  he  ap- 
proached. The  bear  heard  it,  and  was  either 
making  efforts  to  escape,  or  preparing  to  de- 
fend himself;  for  he  thrashed  about  among  the 
bushes  in  a  way  that  quite  bewildered  Frank 
and  Archie,  who  drew  their  revolvers,  and 
turned  their  horses'  heads  down  the  path,  ready 
to  fight  or  run,  as  they  might  find  it  necessary. 
An  instant  afterward,  a  large,  tan-colored  hound 
bounded  across  the  path,  and  dashed  into  the 
bushes  where  the  game  was  concealed.  It  was 
not  one  of  those  which  had  so  disgracefully  left 
the  field  a  few  moments  before — it  was  Carlo, 
Johnny's  favorite  hound — an  animal  whose 
strength  had  been  tested  in  mary  a  desperate 
encounter,  and  which  had  never  been  found 
wanting  in  courage.  Scarcely  had  he  disap- 
peared when  Marmion  came  in  sight,  also  fol- 
lowing the  trail.  He  ran  with  his  nose  close 
to  the  ground,  the  hair  on  his  back  standing 


AKTHUR   SHOWS   HIS   COURAGE.  131 

» 

Btraight  up  like  the  quills  on  a  porcupine,  and 
his  whole  appearance  indicating  great  rage  and 
excitement. 

"  Hi !  hi ! "  yelled  Frank.  "  Take  hold  of 
liim,  you  rascal!  Now's  your  time,  Arthur. 
Ride  up  and  give  him  the  contents  of  your 
double-barrel ;  only,  be  careful,  and  do  n't  shoot 
the  dogs." 

For  an  instant,  it  seemed  as  if  Arthur's  cour- 
age had  returned,  and  that  he  was  about  to 
yield  to  the  entreaties  of  his  companions.  He 
straightened  up  in  his  saddle,  and,  assuming 
what  he,  no  doubt,  imagined  to  be  a  very  de- 
termined look,  was  on  the  point  of  urging  his 
horse  forward,  when  suddenly  there  arose  from 
the  woods  a  chorus  of  yells,  and  snarls,  and 
growls,  that  made  the  cold  chills  creep  all  over 
him,  and  caused  him  to  forget  every  thing  in 
the  desire  to  put  a  safe  distance  between  him- 
self and  the  terrible  animal  in  the  bushes.  Act- 
ing on  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  he  wheeled 
his  horse,  and,  before  Frank  or  Archie  could 
utter  a  word,  he  shot  by  them,  and  disappeared 
down  the  path. 

For  a  moment,  the  two  boys,  forgetting  that 


132   FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

a  furious  battle  was  going  on  a  little  way  from 
them,  gazed  at  each  other  in  blank  amazement. 
The  mighty  hunter,  who  had  boasted  of  whip- 
ping a  grizzly-bear  in  a  fair  fight,  with  no 
weapon  but  his  knife,  had  fled  ingloriously, 
without  having  seen  any  thing  to  be  fright- 
ened at. 

"  That 's  one  lie  nailed,"  said  Frank. 

"More  than  one,  I  should  think,"  returned 
Archie,  contemptuously.  "I  shall  have  noth- 
ing more  to  do  with  that  fellow.  This  is  the 
end  of  my  acquaintance  with  him." 

No  doubt  Archie  was  in  earnest  when  he 
said  this;  but,  had  he  been  able  to  look  into 
the  future,  he  would  have  discovered  that  he 
was  destined  to  have  a  great  deal  more  to  do 
with  Arthur  Vane.  Instead  of  being  the  end 
of  his  acquaintance  with  that  young  gentleman, 
it  was  only  the  beginning  of  it. 

Meanwhile,  the  fight  in  the  bushes,  desperate 
as  it  was,  judging  by  the  noise  it  occasioned, 
was  ended,  and  Arthur  had  scarcely  disappeared 
when  Marmion  and  Carlo  walked  out  into  the 
path,  and,  after  looking  up  at  the  boys,  and 
giving  their  tails  a  few  jerks,  as  if  to  say? 


ARTHUR  SHOWS   HIS   COURAGE.  133 

"  We  Ve  done  it ! "  seated  themselves  on  their 
haunches,  and  awaited  further  orders.  Archie 
threw  his  reins  to  his  cousin,  and,  springing 
out  of  his  saddle,  went  forward  to  survey  the 
Bcene  of  the  conflict.  He  was  gone  but  a  mo- 
ment, and  when  he  came  out  of  the  bushes,  he 
was  dragging  after  him — not  a  grizzly  bear, 
but  a  large  gray  wolf,  which  had  been  over- 
powered and  killed  by  the  dogs.  One  of  the 
wolf's  hind-legs  was  caught  in  a  trap,  to  which 
was  fastened  a  short  piece  of  chain  and  a  clog. 
The  animal  had  doubtless  been  paying  his  re- 
spects to  some  sheep-fold  during  the  night,  and 
had  put  his  foot  into  the  trap  while  searching 
for  his  supper.  He  had  retreated  toward  the 
mountains,  and  had  dragged  the  trap  until 
the  clog  caught,  and  held  him  fast.  That 
was  the  reason  he  did  not  run  off  when  the 
boys  came  up,  and  the  commotion  in  the 
bushes  had  been  caused  by  his  efforts  to  free 
himself. 

While  the  boys  were  examining  their  prize, 
Johnny,  having  succeeded  in  stopping  his  fran- 
tic horse,  was  returning  to  the  place  from  which 
he  had  started  on  his  involuntary  ride.  As  he 


134    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

was  about  to  enter  the  woods  at  the  base  of  the 
mountains,  he  saw  a  horse  emerge  from  the 
trees,  and  come  toward  him  at  a  rapid  gallop. 
His  bridle  was  flying  loose  in  the  wind,  and 
Johnny  at  first  thought  he  was  running  away; 
but  a  second  glance  showed  him  that  there  was 
somebody  on  his  back. 

"Stampeded,"  thought  Johnny.  "If  I  am 
laughed  at,  it  will  be  some  consolation  to  know 
that  I  am  not  alone  in  my  misery." 

The  rider  of  the  stampeded  horse  was  bent 
almost  double;  his  feet  were  out  of  the  stir- 
rups, which  were  being  thrown  wildly  about; 
both  hands  were  holding  fast  to  the  horn  of 
the  saddle ;  his  face  was  deadly  pale,  and,  alto- 
gether, he  presented  the  appearance  of  one  who 
had  been  thoroughly  alarmed.  Although  he 
looked  very  unlike  the  dignified  Arthur  Vane, 
who  had  ridden  so  gayly  over  that  road  but  a 
few  moments  before,  Johnny  recognized  him  at 
once ;  and  the  first  thought  that  flashed  through 
his  mind  was  that  something  terrible  had  hap- 
pened to  Frank  and  Archie. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Johnny,  pull- 
ing up  his  horse  with  a  jerk. 


ARTHUR  SHOWS   HIS  COURAGE.  135 

"Grizzly  bears!"  shouted  Arthur,  in  reply, 
without  attempting  to  check  his  headlong 
flight. 

"Grizzly  bears!"  echoed  Johnny,  in  dis- 
may. "And  are  you  going  off  without  try- 
ing to  help  those  boys?  Stop,  and  go  back 
with  me." 

But  Arthur  was  past  stopping,  either  by 
ability  or  inclination.  Digging  his  spurs  intc 
the  sides  of  his  horse,  which  was  already  going 
at  the  top  of  his  speed,  he  went  by  Johnny 
like  the  wind,  and  in  a  moment  was  so  far 
away  that  it  was  useless  to  make  any  further 
attempts  to  stop  him.  For  an  instant,  Johnny 
was  irresolute;  then  he  turned  in  his  saddle, 
and  shouted  one  word,  which  the  wind  caught 
up  and  carried  to  the  ears  of  the  flying  horse- 
man, and  which  did  much  to  bring  about  the 
events  we  have  yet  to  describe. 

"  Coward ! "  yelled  Johnny,  with  all  the 
strength  of  his  lungs. 

Having  thus  given  utterance  to  his  opinion 
of  Arthur  Vane,  he  put  spurs  to  his  horse  and 
galloped  into  the  woods,  hoping  to  reach  the 


136    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

scene  of  the  conflict  in  time  to  be  of  service  to 
his  friends.  But,  as  we  know,  the  grizzly  bear 
had  proved  to  be  a  wolf,  and  had  already  been 
killed  by  the  dogs. 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.  137 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ARTHUR  PLANS   REVENGE. 

MEAN  WHILE,  Arthur  Yane  continued  his 
•^ '•*-  mad  flight  toward  the  settlement.  His  hat 
was  gone,  his  fine  shot-gun  had  been  thrown 
aside  as  a  useless  incumbrance,  and  his  toma- 
hawk and  knife  had  dropped  out  of  his  belt ; 
but  he  was  too  frightened  to  stop  to  pick  them 
up.  No  pause  he  knew  until  he  reached  Mr. 
Harris's  rancho,  where  he  reined  up  his  panting 
horse,  and  electrified  the  family  by  shouting 
through  the  open  window : 

"  Grizzly  bears  !     Grizzly  bears ! " 
"Where?"  breathlessly  inquired  Mr.  Harris, 
running  out  on  the  porch. 

Before  Arthur  could  reply,  Johnny's  mother 
appeared ;  and  a  single  glance  at  the  frightened 
hunter  and  his  dripping  steed,  was  enough  to 
awaken  in,  her  mind  the  most  terrible  appre- 


138        FRANK   AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

hensions.  She  knew,  instinctively,  that  some- 
thing dreadful  had  happened. 

"O,  my  son!"  she  screamed,  sinking  down 
on  the  porch,  and  covering  her  face  with  her 
hands. 

Mr.  Harris  did  not  stop  to  ask  any  questions 
then.  He  knew  the  route  the  boys  had  taken 
in  the  morning,  and  his  first  thought  was  to 
start  for  the  scene  of  the  conflict,  although  he 
had  little  hopes  of  arriving  in  time  to  be  of  any 
assistance  to  the  young  hunters. 

"Jose"!"  he  shouted  to  one  of  his  Rancheros, 
who  happened  to  pass  by  the  house  at  that  mo- 
ment, "  call  all  the  men  to  saddle  up  at  once. 
The  boys  have  been  attacked  by  a  grizzly  in 
the  mountains." 

The  gentleman  carried  his  fainting  wife  into 
the  house,  and  presently  re-appeared  with  a 
brace  of  revolvers  strapped  to  his  waist,  and  a 
rifle  in  his  hand. 

"Did  you  see  any  of  the  boys  hurt?" 

He  asked  this  question  in  a  firm  voice ;  but 
his  pale  face  and  quivering  lips  showed  that 
the  news  he  had  just  received  had  not  been 
without  its  effect  upon  him. 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.       139 

"No,  sir,"  replied  Arthur.  "My  horse  ran 
away  with  me;  but  I  heard  the  fight,  and  I 
know  that  the  dogs  were  all  cut  to  pieces. 
The  bear  was  an  awful  monster — as  large  as  an 
ox ;  and  such  teeth  and  claws  as  he*  had !  I 
never  saw  the  like  in  all  my  hunting." 

In  a  few  moments,  naif  a  dozen  herdsmen, 
all  well  armed,  galloped  up,  one  of  them  leading 
his  employer's  horse. 

"  Vane,"  said  Mr.  Harris,  as  he  sprang  into 
his  saddle,  "you  will  stop  on  your  way  home, 
and  tell  Mr.  Winters,  will  you  not?" 

Arthur  replied  by  putting  spurs  to  his  horse, 
and  in  a  few  moments  he  was  standing  in  Mr. 
Winters's  court,  spreading  consternation  among 
the  people  of  the  rancho.  Dick  and  Bob  were 
there;  but,  unlike  the  rest  of  the  herdsmen, 
they-  seemed  to  be  but  little  affected  by  Arthur's 
story. 

"  You  '11  never  see  those  boys  again,"  said 
the  latter,  winding  up  his  narrative  with  a  de- 
scription of  the  bear  by  which  they  had  been 
attacked. 

"Now,  don't  you  ">e  anyways  oneasy,"  re- 
plied Dick,  hurrying  off  to  saddle  his  horse. 


140   FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

"If  it  war  a  grizzly,  he's  dead  enough  by 
this  time,  for  I  knowed  them  youngsters  long 
afore  you  sot  eyes  on  to  'em,  an'  I  know  what 
they  can  do.  Didn't  I  tell  you,  'Squire/'  he 
added,  turning  to  Mr.  Winters,  who  was  pacing 
anxiously  up  and  down  the  porch,  "  that  Frank 
would  come  out  all  right  when  he  war  stam- 
peded with  them  buffaler  ?  Wai,  I  tell  you  the 
same  now." 

Arthur  remained  at  the  rancho  until  Uncle 
James  and  his  herdsmen  set  out  for  the  mount- 
ains, and  then  turned  his  face  homeward. 

It  is  a  rule  that  seldom  fails,  that  when  one 
meets  a  braggadocio,  he  can  put  him  down  as  a 
coward.  We  have  seen  that  it  held  good  in 
Arthur's  case ;  for,  although  he  had  not  caught 
the  smallest  glimpse  Df  the  animal  in  the 
bushes,  he  was  so  terrified  that  he  had  run  his 
horse  eight  miles ;  and,  while  he  was  plunging 
his  spurs  into  the  gray's  sides  at  almost  every 
jump,  he  imagined  that  the  animal  was  run- 
ning away  with  him.  He  was  so  badly  fright- 
ened that  he  did  not  pause  to  consider  that  he 
might  have  occasioned  a  great  deal  of  unneces- 
sary anxiety  and  alarm  by  the  stories  he  had 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.  141 

circulated.  He  really  believed  that  every  word 
he  had  uttered  was  the  truth;  and  he  reached 
this  conclusion  by  a  process  of  reasoning  per- 
fectly satisfactory  to  himself.  He  had  heard 
the  growls  and  snarls  uttered  by  the  animal  in 
the  bushes,  when  attacked  by  the  dogs,  and 
they  were  so  appalling,  that  he  felt  safe  in  be- 
lieving that  they  came  from  some  terrible  mon- 
ster. The  conduct  of  the  hounds,  and  of  John- 
ny's horse,  confirmed  this  opinion.  Besides, 
Frank  and  Archie  had  pronounced  the  animal 
a  grizzly,  and  Arthur  was  quite  sure  it  was;  for 
nothing  else,  except  a  lion  or  tiger,  could  have 
uttered  such  growls.  He  had  heard  that  griz- 
zlies were  very  tenacious  of  life,  and  hard  to 
whip,  and,  consequently,  it  followed,  as  a  thing 
of  course,  that  Frank  and  Archie,  and  the  dogs, 
were  utterly  annihilated. 

"  I  'm  safe,  thank  goodness !"  said  Arthur, 
to  himself.  "If  those  fellows  were  foolish 
enough  to  stay  there  and  be  clawed  to  pieces, 
that 's  their  lookout  and  not  mine.  Johnny 
Harris  insulted  me  by  calling  me  a  coward. 
He  may  escape  from  the  bear,  and  if  he  does, 
I  shall  think  yp  a  plan  to  punish  him." 


142    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

When  Arthur  reached  home,  he  repeated  his 
story  as  he  had  told  it  to  Mr.  Harris  and  Un- 
cle James,  and  he  straightway  found  himself  a 
KTO.  He  had  seen  a  grizzly  bear  with  terrible 
claws,  and  a  frightful  array  of  teeth  ;  his  horse 
had  run  away  with  him,  and  carried  him  eight 
miles  before  he  could  stop  him,  and  he  had 
come  home  with  a  whole  skin.  It  was  won- 
derful. 

Arthur  threw  on  airs  accordingly.  He  strut- 
ted about  among  the  herdsmen,  and  entertained 
his  servant,  a  Mexican  boy  about  his  own  age, 
named  Pedro,  with  a  description  of  the  fight,  in 
which  he  had  seen  four  fierce  dogs  completely 
demolished. 

Pedro  complimented  him  highly,  and  the 
Lancheros  called  him  a  brave  lad — although 
Arthur  himself  failed  to  see  what  he  had  done 
that  was  deserving  of  praise.  He  went  to  bed 
in  excellent  spirits,  and  was  awakened  in  the 
morning,  about  daylight,  by  Pedro,  who  came 
into  his  room,  carrying  in  his  hand  a  double- 
barreled  shot-gun,  a  tomahawk,  and  sheath- 
knife,  and,  under  his  arm,  he  held  a  hat,  and  a 
bundle  wrapped  up  in  a  newspaper.  Pedro 


ARTHUB  PLANS  REVENGE.  143 

held  his  sombrero  over  his  face,  so  that  nothing 
could  be  seen  but  his  eyes,  which  were  brimful 
of  laughter. 

"  Now,  then,"  exclaimed  Arthur,  raising  him- 
self on  his  elbow,  and  looking  fiercely  at  the 
boy,  "what  do  you  want  in  here  at  this  bar- 
barous hour,  and  what  are  you  grinning  at?" 

"  Why,  sir — the  bear,  you  know ;  it  was  n't 
a  bear  after  all,"  stammered  Pedro,  in  reply. 

"  It  was  n't !  I  say  it  was.  Did  n't  I  see  him 
with  my  own  eyes,  and  hear  him  growl  with 
my  own  ears?  Take  that  hat  down  from  your 
face,  and  stop  your  laughing." 

Pedro  obeyed.  He  placed  the  bundle  on  a 
chair  beside  the  bed,  leaned  the  gun  up  in  one 
corner,  deposited  the  other  articles  upon  the 
table,  and  then  pulled  out  of  his  pocket  a  note 
which  he  handed  to  Arthur. 

"Now  take  yourself  off,"  commanded  that 
young  gentleman. 

Pedro  vanished,  and  Arthur  heard  him  laugh- 
ing to  himself  as  he  passed  through  the  hall. 

"  What  does  the  rascal  mean,  I  wonder ;  and 
who  can  be  writing  to  me  eo  early  in  Ahe  morn- 
ing?" 


144    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

Arthur  looked  at  the  bundle,  which  lay  on 
the  chair  beside  him,  felt  of  it  with  his  fingers, 
and  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  ncte, 
which  ran  as  follows : 

"Frank,  Archie,  and  Johnny  present  their 
compliments  to  Colonel  Vane,  and  beg  leave  to 
inform  him  that,  after  a  struggle  unequaled 
in  the  annals  of  hunting,  they  succeeded  in  dis- 
patching the  monster  by  which  they  were  at- 
tacked yesterday.  They  are,  also,  happy  to 
announce  that  the  dogs,  which  were  so  badly 
cut  up  during  the  fight,  have  so  far  recovered 
as  to  be  out,  and  to  take  their  regular  rations. 
They  request  the  Colonel  to  accept  the  accom- 
panying articles,  including  the  skin  of  the  griz- 
zly bear,  and  to  preserve  them  as  mementoes  of 
the  most  exciting  event  of  his  life.  They  sin- 
cerely hope  that  the  Colonel  sustained  no  injury 
during  his  ride  on  his  runaway  horse." 

Arthur  read  this  letter  over  twice,  and,  al- 
though he  made  no  comments  upon  it,  it  was  easy 
enough  to  see  that  he  was  highly  enraged.  He 
sat  up  in  the  bed,  and,  with  trembling  hands, 
tore  off  the  covering  of  the  bundle,  and  discov- 
ered the  skin  of  the  gray  wolf. 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.  145 

"By  gracious!"  exclaimed  Arthur,  jumping 
out  on  the  floor.  "  Was  a  gentleman  ever  be- 
fore so  insulted?  That  little  Yankee,  Archie 
Winters,  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  this,  and  if  he 
do  n't  suffer  for  it,  I  '11  know  the  reason  why." 

He  tore  the  note  into  fragments,  pitched  the 
bundle  out  of  the  window,  and  walked  angrily 
about  the  room,  shaking  his  fists  in  the  air, 
and  threatening  all  sorts  of  vengeance  against 
Archie  and  his  two  friends.  If  he  had  been  in 
his  sober  senses,  he  would  have  felt  heartily 
ashamed  of  himself;  but  the  note  had  opened 
his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  he  had  sadly  injured 
his  reputation,  and  he  was  angry  at  his  com- 
panions because  he  had  done  so — although  how 
they  could  be  blamed  for  that,  it  would  have 
puzzled  a  sensible  boy  to  determine.  But,  after 
all,  his  case  was  not  an  isolated  one.  It  is  by 
no  means  uncommon  for  boys,  when  they  get 
angry,  to  revenge  themselves  upon  some  inno- 
cent thing.  We  remember  that,  on  a  certain 
rainy  day,  several  boys  were  congregated  in  a 
barn,  amusing  themselves  by  turning  hand- 
springs. One  clumsy  fellow,  whose  feet  were 
so  heavy  that  he  could  not  get  them  over  his 
10 


146         FRANK  AMONG  THE   EANCHEROS. 

head,  became  greatly  enraged  at  his  failures,  and 
finally  tried  to  soothe  his  wounded  pride  by 
whipping  one  of  his  companions. 

Arthur  was  actuated  by  the  same  spirit.  He 
walked  up  and  down  his  room  for  a  long  time, 
trying  to  make  up  his  mind  what  he  should  do, 
and,  when  he  was  called  to  breakfast,  he  had 
decided  upon  a  plan  of  operations,  which  prom- 
ised to  make  Archie  and  his  friends  a  great 
deal  of  trouble. 

"  I  '11  be  revenged  upon  the  whole  lot  of 
them  at  once,"  said  Arthur,  to  himself.  "  Upon 
Johnny  Harris,  for  calling  me  a  coward ;  upon 
Archie  Winters,  for  writing  me  that  note — for  I 
know  he  did  it,  although  Johnny's  name  does 
come  last — and  upon  Frank  Nelson,  for  being 
a  friend  to  those  fellows,  and  for  being  so  stuck 
up.  He  scarcely  spoke  to  me  yesterday,  and  I 
won't  stand  such  treatment  from  any  boy.  I  '11 
teach  these  backwoodsmen  to  insult  a  gentle- 
man!" 

"Well,  Arthur,"  said  Mr.  Vane,  as  the  boy 
seated  himself  at  the  table,  "you  must  have 
looked  through  a  very  badly-frightened  pair  of 
eyes,  to  make  a  grizzly  bear  out  of  a  wolf." 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.       147 

"  Who  told  you  it  was  a  wolf? "  asked  Ar- 
thur, gruffly. 

"  One  of  Mr.  Winters's  herdsmen  —  Dick 
Lewis,  I  believe,  they  call  him.  He  came  over 
this  morning  to  bring  your  weapons  and  hat." 

Pick  despised  a  coward  quite  as  much  as  he 
admired  a  boy  of  spirit  and  courage,  and  it  ia 
certain  that  the  story,  as  he  had  heard  it  from 
Frank  and  Archie,  lost  nothing  in  passing 
through  his  hands.  He  first  told  it  to  Mr. 
Vane,  as  he  handed  him  the  articles  he  had 
brought,  and  then  repeated  it  to  one  of  the  Ran- 
cheros;  and,  by  the  time  Arthur  had  finislied 
his  breakfast,  the  occurrences  of  the  previous 
day  were  known  to  every  one  on  therancho. 
Pedro  laughed  when  he  brought  out  Arthur's 
horse,  and  the  herdsmen,  as  he  rode  through 
their  quarters,  exchanged  winks  with  one  an- 
other, and  made  a  great  many  remarks  about 
grizzly  bears,  especially  concerning  the  one 
Arthur  had  seen  the  day  before.  There  waa 
one  man,  however,  who  took  no  part  in  the 
joking  and  laughing,  and  that  was  Joaquin, 
who  was  just  mounting  his  horse  to  drive  up 
BO  me  stock. 


148        FRANK  AMONG    THE  RANCHEROS. 

"Don't  mind  them,"  said  he,  as  Arthur  rode 
beside  him.  "They  are  a  set  of  blickguards, 
and  do  n't  know  how  to  treat  a  gentleman." 

"  Now,  that 's  like  a  true  friend,"  replied  Ar- 
thur. "You're  the  only  one  I  have  on  the 
ranch." 

Joaquin  was  a  villainous-looking  Mexican, 
and  since  he  had  been  in  Mr.  Vane's  employ,  he 
had  had  little  to  do  with  the  other  herdsmen, 
He  seemed  to  prefer  to  be  alone,  unless  he  could 
have  Arthur  for  company.  He  always  took  a 
great  deal  of  interest  in  the  boy's  affairs,  and 
it  was  from  his  lips  that  Arthur  had  heard  the 
story  of  Frank's  adventures  with  Pierre  Cos- 
tello.  Joaquin  had  gained  Arthur's  good  will 
by  confiding  to  him  a  great  many  secrets,  and 
one  day  he  went  so  far  as  to  confess  that  Pierre 
was  his  particular  friend,  and  that,  if  he  felt  so 
disposed,  he  could  point  out  the  cave  in  the 
mountains  where  the  robber  was  concealed,  and 
tell  who  it  was  that  supplied  him  with  food, 
and  kept  him  posted  in  all  that  happened  in 
the  settlement.  Joaquin  might  have  added, 
further,  that  he  himself  had  held  several  long 
interviews  with  Pierre  of  late,  and  had  talked 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.  149 

over  with  him  certain  plans,  in  which  Arthur 
Vane  and  his  three  companions  of  the  previous 
day  bore  prominent  parts.  But  this  was  one 
secret  that  the  Ranchero  kept  to  himself." 

"  If  you  know  where  the  robber  is  hidden, 
why  do  n't  you  tell  Mr.  Winters,  and  claim  the 
reward?"  Arthur  had  one  day  asked  Joaquin. 

"What!  betray  my  best  friend!"  exclaimed 
that  worthy,  in  great  astonishment.  "  I  am  not 
base  enough  to  abuse  any  man's  confidence. 
Do  you  suppose  that  if  you  were  in  Pierre's 
place,  and  I  knew  where  you  were  concealed, 
that  I  could  be  hired  to  play  false  to  you? 
No,  sir!" 

Arthur  remembered  this  remark,  and  on  this 
particular  morning,  as  he  rode  out  with  the 
Ranchero,  he  called  the  latter's  attention  to  it, 
and  asked  if  he  could  trust  him.  The  reply 
was  a  strong  affirmative,  which  satisfied  Ar- 
thur that  he  might  speak  freely,  and  the  result 
was,  the  revelation  of  his  plan  for  taking  re- 
venge on  Frank,  Johnny,  and  Archie.  Joaquin 
listened  attentively,  and  Arthur  was  delighted 
at  the  readiness,  and  even  eagerness,  with 
which  the  herdsman  fell  in  with  his  ideas,  and 


150        FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCH  EROS. 

promised  his  assistance.  He  had  one  amend- 
ment to  propose,  that  did  not  exactly  suit  Ar- 
thur ;  but,  after  a  little  argument,  he  agreed  to 
it.  They  talked  the  matter  over  for  half  an 
hour,  and  then  Arthur  started  for  home,  and 
the  Ranchero  galloped  off  to  attend  to  his 
stock. 

That  night,  after  all  his  companions  were 
asleep,  Joaquin  crept  quietly  out  of  his  quar- 
ters, and,  after  saddling  his  horse,  rode  toward 
the  mountains.  He  was  gone  nearly  all  night, 
but  returned  in  time  to  get  to  bed  before  the 
herdsmen  awoke;  and,  when  he  arose  with  the 
others,  none  of  them  knew  that  he  had  been 
away  from  the  rancho.  Arthur  Vane  must  have 
known  something  about  it,  however,  for  the 
next  morning,  as  soon  as  he  had  eaten  his  break- 
fast, he  mounted  his  horse,  and  overtook  Joa- 
quin, just  as  he  was  leaving  his  quarters. 

"Well!"  said  Arthur. 

The  Ranchero  looked  suspiciously  about  him, 
and,  finding  that  there  was  no  one  within 
sight  or  hearing,  he  detached  his  knife  and 
sheath  from  his  belt,  produced  a  folded  paper 
from  the  crown  of  his  sombrero,  and  handed 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.       151 

them  both  to  Arthur,  saying,  in  a  suppressed 
whisper : 

"It's  all  right." 

"Did  you  see  him?"  asked  Arthur,  eagerly. 

"I  did,  and  he  says  your  plan  is  an  excel- 
lent one,  and  he  will  help  you  to  carry  it  out. 
The  black  line  on  that  paper  points  out  the 
road  you  are  to  follow;  the  light  lines,  that 
branch  off  from  it,  are  old  bridle-paths.  Look 
at  the  paper  often,  and  you  can't  get  lost.  He 
has  never  seen  you,  you  know,  and,  when  you 
find  him,  you  must  show  him  my  knife  to 
prove  that  you  are  a  friend.  Bear  one  thing 
in  mind,  now,  and  that  is,  you  are  playing  a 
dangerous  game,  and  if  you  are  found  out,  the 
country  around  here  will  be  too  hot  to  hold 
you.  Remember  that  I  am  your  only  friend 
in  this  matter,  and  say  nothing  to  nobody  ex- 
cept me. 

With  this  piece  of  advice,  the  Ranchero  gal- 
loped off,  and  Arthur,  after  placing  the  knife 
in  his  belt,  and  putting  the  paper  carefully 
away  in  his  pocket,  rode  toward  the  mount- 
ains. 

During  the  next  few  hours,  Arthur  consulted 


152    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

his  paper  frequently,  and,  about  noon,  he  was 
standing  at  the  base  of  a  precipitous  cliff,  twenty 
miles  from  home,  examining  the  natural  fea- 
tures of  the  place,  and  comparing  them  with 
his  diagram.  He  saw  no  one;  but  half  way 
up  the  cliff  was  a  huge  bowlder,  over  which 
peered  a  pair  of  eyes  that  were  closely  watch- 
ing every  move  he  made;  and,  when  Arthur 
whistled  twice,  the  eyes  disappeared,  and  a  man 
stepped  from  behind  the  rock,  and  said,  in  a 
gruff  voice: 

"Who  are  you,  and  what  do  you  want  here?" 

"Are  you  Pierre  Costello?"  asked  Arthur. 

"Well,  now,  that's  no  concern  of  yours," 
replied  the  man.  "Who  are  you?"  As  he 
spoke,  he  drew  a  revolver  from  his  sash,  and 
rested  it  on  the  rock  beside  him,  the  muzzle 
pointing  straight  at  the  boy's  head. 

"Don't!"  cried  Arthur,  turning  pale,  and 
stepping  back.  "I  am  Arthur  Vane,  and  I 
have  come  here  to  have  a  talk  with  you.  Here 
is  Joaquin's  knife,  which  will  prove  that  I  am 
all  right." 

The  man  returned  his  revolver  to  his  belt, 
and  came  down  the  cliff;  and,  presently,  Ar- 


ARTHUR  PLANS  REVENGE.       153 

thur  found  himself  standing  face  to  face  with 
a  live  robber. 

"  I  am  Pierre  Costello,"  said  the  latter ;  "  and 
I  wae  waiting  for  you." 


16d   FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHERO8. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OFF   FOR  THE   MOUNTAINS. 

A  RTHUR  looked  at  the  robber  with  curi- 
•*"*-  osity.  Yellow-covered  novels  had  always 
been  his  favorite  reading,  and  highwaymen, 
brigands,  and  pirates  were,  in  his  estimation, 
the  only  heroes  worthy  of  emulation.  Pierre, 
but  for  one  thing,  would  have  come  up  to  his 
beau  ideal  of  a  robber.  He  was  loaded  with 
weapons,  and  he  was  tall  and  broad-shouldered, 
sported  a  ferocious  mustache,  and  his  hair  fell 
down  upon  his  shoulders.  He  was  dressed  in 
the  gayest  Mexican  style,  but  his  clothing  had 
seen  long  service,  and  was  not  quite  as  neat  as 
Arthur  would  have  liked  to  have  seen  it.  It 
was  plain  that  Pierre  did  not  waste  much  time 
upon  his  toilet;  but,  after  all,  he  was  a  very 
good-looking  villain. 

The  robber  was  quite  as  much  interested  in 
his  visitor  as  the  latter  was  in  him.     He  had 


OFF   FOR  THE   MOUNTAINS.  155 

:fteu  heard  of  Arthur  through  Joaqu'u;  and, 
:f  the  boy  had  known  all  Pierre's  intentions 
concerning  him,  he  might  not  have  felt  quite 
so  much  at  his  ease. 

"  I  can't  spare  much  time,"  said  the  robber, 
breaking  the  silence  at  last. 

"  Nor  I  either,"  returned  Arthur;  "so  I  will 
begin  my  business  at  once,  and  get  through  as 
soon  as  I  can.  I  have  heard  the  particulars  of 
your  fights  with  Frank  Nelson,  and  I  propose 
to  put  you  in  the  way  of  making  five  times 
the  amount  of  money  you  would  have  made  if 
you  had  captured  him  when  you  met  him  in 
the  mountains.  I  want  to  be  revenged  upon 
Frank  and  his  crowd,  for  they  have  grossly  in- 
sulted me." 

"  Of  course  the}  have,"  said  Pierre.  "  I 
know  all  about  it." 

"I  can't  punish  them  by  myself,"  continued 
Arthur,  "  for  they  are  three  to  my  one.  I  am 
not  afraid  of  Johnny  Harris,  or  Archie  Win- 
ters; but  there's  that  other  Yankee,  Frank 
Nelson.  He  is  as  strong  as  a  lion,  and  if  he 
once  gets  his  blood  up,  he  do  n't  care  for  any 
thing.  I  am  afraid  of  him." 


J56    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

"I  don't  wonder  at  it.  I  have  had  some 
experience  with  him,  and,  if  he  had  a  few  more 
years  on  his  shoulders,  I  should  be  afraid  of 
him  myself." 

"I  can't  punish  them  unless  I  have  help," 
repeated  Arthur;  "and,  if  you  will  lend  me 
your  assistance,  you  can  make  sixty  thousand 
dollars  by  it.  I  heard  those  fellows  say,  yes- 
terday, that  they  are  going  on  a  hunting  ex- 
pedition, next  week.  I  will  make  friends  with 
them  again,  and  find  out  when  they  intend  to 
start,  and  I  propose  that  you  capture  them,  and 
take  them  to  some  safe  place  in  the  mountains, 
and  demand  twenty  thousand  dollars  apiece  for 
them.  You  can  demand  more,  if  you  choosy 
and  get  it,  too;  for  Mr.  Harris  is  rich,  and  ?-o 
is  Mr.  Winters.  You  must  have  some  men  *o 
assist  you,  however." 

"  I  understand  that,"  said  Pierre.  "  I  '11  fi>-d 
the  men." 

"Will  you  do  it?" 

'•Certainly,  I  will." 

"  Give  me  your  hand,  Pierre ;  I  knew  you 
would  help  me.  But  let  me  tell  you  one  thing, 
and  that  is,  when  you  capture  them  you  must 


OFF   F)R  THE   MOUNTAINS.  157 

look  out  for  yourself.  They  will  have  plenty 
•of  weapons,  and,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
them,  I  do  n't  think  they  would  hesitate  to  use 
them  if  they  got  a  chance.  There  'a  one  thing 
about  tnis  business  I  do  n't  exactly  admire. 
Of  course,  I  shall  start  with  their  expedition — 
I  want  to  have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them 
captured — and  my  idea  was,  that,  when  you 
made  the  attack  on  them,  you  should  give  me 
a  chance  to  escape ;  but  Joaquin  says,  that 
won't  do  at  all." 

"Certainly  not;"  said  Pierre,  quickly.  "I 
shall  have  five  men  with  me,  and  if  we  should 
let  you  get  away,  the  boys  would  be  suspicious 
of  you  at  once." 

"That's  just  what  Joaquin  said;  and  since 
I  have  thought  the  matter  over,  I  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  right.  I  don't 
want  them  to  know  that  I  had  a  hand  in  this 
matter,  for  they  might  make  me  some  trou- 
ble." 

"Very  likely  they  would.  You  must  allow 
youiself  to  be  captured  with  the  others." 

"Well,  I  sha'n't  mind  that,  for,  I  believe,  I 
can  enjoy  myself  among  the  mountains  for  a 


'58         FRANK  AMONG  THE  BANCIIEROS. 

month  or  two.  But,  Pierre,  when  you  get  them 
you  must  hold  fast  to  them." 

"I  am  not  the  man  to  let  sixty  thousand 
dollars  slip  through  my  fingers,"  said  the  Ran- 
chero,  with  a  laugh. 

"And  there  are  three  other  things  I  want 
you  to  remember,"  continued  Arthur,  earnestly. 
"The  first  is,  you  must  not  demand  any  ransom 
for  me." 

"Oh  no;  of  course  not." 

"The  second  is,  I  shall  expect  to  be  treated 
at  all  times  like  a  visitor.  I  am  a  gentleman, 
and  a  gentleman's  son." 

"  I  am  well  aware  of  that  fact.  I  knew  it 
the  moment  I  put  my  eyes  on  you." 

"The  third  thing  I  want  you  to  bear  in 
mind,  is,  that  I  shall  not  be  captured  without 
a  struggle ;  and  that  every  chance  I  get  I  shall 
try  to  escape.  I  am  going  to  show  those  fellows 
that  I  have  some  spunk.  I  want  you  to  act 
natural,  and  to  prevent  me  from  getting  away 
from  you ;  but  you  must  not  abuse  me.  You 
can  treat  the  others  as  roughly  as  you  please. 
Do  you  agree  to  all  this?" 

"I  do,  and  there's   my  hand    on   it,"  said 


OFF  FOR  THE  MOUNTAINS.  159 

Pierre.  "  I  fully  understand  your  plans  now, 
and  know  just  what  you  want  me  to  do ;  and, 
what 's  more,  I  '11  do  it.  If  you  have  got 
through  with  what  you  have  to  say,  you  had 
better  be  off.  I  have  a  good  many  enemies, 
and  I  am  in  danger  as  long  as  you  are  here. 
Watch  those  boys  closely,  and  keep  Joaquin 
posted.  I  can  find  out  every  thing  I  want  to 
know  from  him." 

"  My  plans  are  working  nicely,"  chuckled 
Arthur,  as  he  rode  homeward.  "  I  '11  teach 
these  backwoodsmen  manners,  before  I  am  done 
with  them." 

"  Eighty  thousand  dollars  !  "  said  Pierre, 
gazing  after  the  retreating  horseman.  "  That  'a 
a  nice  .little  sum  to  be  divided  among  six 
of  us." 

This  remark  will  show  whether  or  not  the 
robber  intended  to  abide  by  the  promises  he 
had  just  made  to  Arthur  Vane ;  and,  while  we 
are  on  this  subject,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  say, 
that  the  scheme  Arthur  had  proposed,  was  one 
on  which  the  robber  had  been  meditating  for 
many  days.  During  the  time  he  had  lived  in 
the  mountains,  he  had  kept  his  brain  busy, 


160    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

and  had  been  allowed  ample  opportunity  ic 
decide  upon  his  future  operations.  He  had 
been  astonished  and  enraged  at  his  failure  t« 
secure  the  twelve  thousand  dollars,  and  tc 
make  Frank  Nelson  a  prisoner,  and  he  hao 
resolved  to  make  amends  for  his  defeat  by 
capturing  Frank  and  all  his  companions,  in- 
cluding Arthur  Vane.  Pierre  had  plenty  of 
friends  to  assist  him,  but  there  was  one  ques- 
tion that  troubled  him,  and  presented  an  ob- 
stacle that  he  could  see  no  way  to  overcome; 
and  that  was,  how  to  capture  all  the  boys  at 
once.  That  must  be  done,  or  his  plan  would 
fail.  He  could  get  his  hands  upon  Arthur 
Vane  at  any  time;  but  the  others  were  like 
birds  on  the  wing — here  to-day,  and  miles  away 
to-morrow — and  Pierre  did  not  know  where  to 
find  them.  Now,  however,  the  difficulty  was 
removed.  Frank  and  his  friends  were  going 
on  a  hunting  expedition,  Arthur  would  ascer- 
tain when  they  were  going  to  start,  and  what 
road  they  intended  to  take,  and  when  the  day 
arrived,  the  robber  could  call  in  his  men,  who 
were  employed  on  the  neighboring  ranches, 
and  capture  the  boys  without  the  least  trouble. 


OFF   FOB  THE   MOUNTAINS.  161 

Pierre  was   very  glad   that  Arthur   had  got 
angry  at  Frank. 

Meanwhile  Frank,  Archie,  and  Johnny,  all 
unconscious  of  the  plans  that  were  being 
formed  against  them,  enjoyed  themselves  to 
the  utmost,  and  wasted  a  good  deal  of  time 
every  day  in  laughing  over  the  incidents  that 
had  transpired  during  their  ride  to  Captain 
Porter's  ranch.  Archie,  especially,  had  a  great 
deal  to  say  about  it.  He  had  an  accomplish- 
ment, of  which  we  have  never  before  had  occa- 
sion to  speak :  he  was  a  first-class  mimic ;  and  he 
took  no  little  pride  in  showing  off  his  powers. 
He  could  imitate  the  brogue  of  an  Irishman, 
the  broken  English  of  a  Dutchman,  or  the  nasal 
twang  of  a  Yankee,  to  perfection ;  and  one  day, 
while  he  was  in  the  barn  saddling  his  horse,  he 
carried  on  a  lengthy  conversation  with  Bob 
Kelly  (who  was  on  the  outside  of  the  building), 
about  some  runaway  cattle,  and  the  old  trapper 
thought  all  the  while  that  he  was  talking  to  his 
chum,  Dick  Lewis.  Now  Archie  had  a  new 
subject  to  practice  upon.  He  laid  himself  out 
to  personate  Arthur  Vane;  and  he  not  only 
successfully  imitated  that  young  gentleman's 
11 


162   FBANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

pompous  style  of  talking,  and  his  dignified 
manner  of  riding  and  walking,  but  even  the 
tone  of  his  voice.  He  criticised  Frank  and 
Johnny  continually,  and  made  them  laugh,  till 
their  jaws  ached,  by  recounting  imaginary  ad- 
ventures on  the  burning  sands  of  Patagonia,  and 
among  the  icebergs  and  polar  bears  of  India. 

The  day  following  the  one  on  which  Arthur 
"Vane  visited  the  robber  in  the  mountains, 
found  the  three  boys  on  the  back  porch  of  Mr. 
Winters's  ran  cho,  making  preparations  for  their 
hunting  expedition.  Frank  was  cleaning  his 
rifle,  and  Archie  and  Johnny  were  repairing  an 
old  pack-saddle,  in  which  they  intended  to 
carry  their  provisions  and  extra  ammunition. 
Archie  was  seated  on  the  floor,  with  an  awl  in 
one  hand,  and  a  piece  of  stout  twine  in  the 
other;  and,  while  he  was  working  at  the  pack- 
saddle,  his  tongue  was  moving  rapidly. 

"I  am  young  in  years,  fellows,"  he  was 
saying,  "  but  I  am  aged  in  experience.  If  I  had 
my  rights,  I  should  long  ago  have  been  gray- 
headed.  I  have  seen  thrilling  times  in  my  life, 
and  have  been  the  hero  of  adventures,  that, 
were  I  to  relate  them  to  you,  would  make  each 


OFF   FOR   THE   MOUNTAINS.  163 

particular  hair  of  your  heads  stand  on  end, 
like  the  quills  of  a  punched  hedge-hog.  I 
am — if  you  will  kindly  permit  me  to  use  a 
slang  expression — an  old  hand  at  the  business 
of  hunting  and  trapping,  and  have  accomplish- 
ments in  which  I  can  not  be  beaten.  Among 
them,  stands  my  ability  to  whip  a  grizzly  bear 
in  a  fair  fight,  with  no  weapon  but  my  knife. 
I  have  hunted  wild  gorillas  in  the  streets  of 
New  York  City;  have"— 

"Good  morning,  fellows!" 

Archie  brought  the  story  of  his  adventures  to 
a  sudden  close,  and,  looking  over  his  shoulder, 
saw  Arthur  Vane  standing  at  the  end  of  the 
porch.  The  boys  had  never  expected  him  to 
call  upon  them  again,  and  Archie  and  Johnny 
were  too  surprised  to  speak;  but  Frank,  who 
always  kept  his  wits  about  him,  returned  Ar- 
thur's greeting,  and  invited  him  to  occupy  the 
chair  he  pushed  toward  him.  He  was  not  at 
all  pleased  to  see  the  visitor,  but  he  was  too 
much  of  a  gentleman  to  show  it. 

One  would  suppose,  that  the  remembrance  of 
what  had  happened,  three  days  before,  would 
have  caused  Arthur  some  embarrassment;  but 


164   FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

such  was  not  the  case.  On  the  contrary,  ne 
was  as  dignified  as  ever,  and  seemed  to  be  per- 
fectly at  his  ease.  Frank  and  his  friends  were 
considerate  enough  to  refrain  from  making  any 
allusions  to  the  fright  he  had  sustained,  but 
Arthur  brought  the  subject  up  himself. 

"I  received  your  note,"  said  he,  "and  also 
the  articles  you  were  kind  enough  to  send  me ; 
and  I  am  here  now  to  say,  that  I  feel  heartily 
ashamed  of  myself.  From  some  cause  or  an 
other,  that  I  could  not  explain  if  I  should  try, 
I  was  extremely  nervous  that  day;  but  I  may, 
some  time,  lave  an  opportunity  to  show  you 
that  I  am  not  as  much  of  a  coward  as  I  know 
you  now  believe  me  to  be." 

Arthur  remained  at  therancho  all  that  day, 
sitting  dow  i  at  the  same  table,  and  eating  his 
dinner  with  the  boys  he  was  about  to  betray  into 
the  hands  of  the  robbers ;  and,  when  he  went 
home  that  night,  he  had  asked,  and  received,  per- 
mission to  accompany  them  to  the  mountains. 
Their  consent  had  been  given  reluctantly,  and 
with  very  bad  grace ;  but  they  could  see  no  way 
to  get  around  it.  Arthur  was  a  boy  with  whom 
they  did  not  care  to  associate ;  but  he  had  done 


OFF   FOR   THE   MOUNTAINS.  165 

them  no  injury,  and  they  could  not  bring  them- 
selves to  refuse  his  request. 

"They  will  start  early  Monday  morning," 
soliloquized  Arthur,  as  he  rode  homeward,  "and 
will  take  the  road  that  leads  to  Captain  Por- 
ter's. This  is  Friday.  I  shall  send  word  by 
Joaquin  to  Pierre  to-night,  and  he  will  have 
plenty  of  time  to  make  all  his  arrangements." 

Arthur  spent  the  next  day  with  the  boys  at 
Mr.  Winters's  rancho,  and,  when  he  rode  over 
on  Monday  morning,  he  brought  with  him  a 
supply  of  provisions,  which  were  stowed  away 
in  the  pack-saddle  with  the  rest.  Frank  and 
his  friends  had  been  waiting  for  him,  and  now 
that  they  were  all  ready,  they  mounted  their 
horses  and  rode  off — Archie  leading  an  extra 
horse,  which  carried  the  pack-saddle.  As  they 
galloped  through  the  Rancheros'  quarters,  Dick 
appeared  at  the  door  of  his  cabin,  and  shouted 
after  them  words,  which,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  events  that  were  about  to  transpire, 
»2emed  like  prophecy. 

"You'll  be  wishin'  fur  me  an'  Bob,  to  get 
you  out  of  the  hands  of  that  ar'  greaser,  afore 
you  're  two  days  older,"  yelled  Dick. 


166    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

"  You  do  n't  suppose  that  we  four  fellows 
will  let  one  man  capture  us,  do  you?"  shouted 
Archie,  in  reply.  "  If  we  do  get  into  trouble, 
and  you  find  it  out,  you  '11  come  to  our  rescue, 
won't  you?" 

"Sartin.  Now,  don't  be  keerless,  like  you 
allers  are." 

The  boys  kept  their  horses  in  a  rapid  gallop 
until  they  reached  the  bridle-path  in  the  mount- 
ains, and  then    Archie    went  ahead   with   the 
pack-horse,  and  the  others  followed  in  single 
file.     They  rode  along  singing  and  shouting, 
and  little  dreaming  of  the  danger  that  was  so 
near,  until  they  arrived  in  sight  of  the  spring, 
near  which  Frank  had  had  his  last  encounter 
with  the  robber.     He  soon  found  that  he  was 
to  have  another  adventure  there ;  for,  as  he  and 
his  companions  rode  toward  the  spring,  they 
were  startled  by  a  shrill  whistle,  which  echoed 
among  the  mountains,  and  was  answered  on  all 
sides  of  them ;  and,  before  they  had  recovered 
from  their  surprise,  Pierre   Costello   appeared 
in   the   path,  as   suddenly  as   though  he  had 
dropped  from  the  clouds,  and  came  toward  them, 
holding  a  pistol  in  each  hand. 


OFF   FOR  THE   MOUNTAINS.  167 

"Halt!"  shouted  the  robber. 

The  boys  looked  about  them,  as  if  seeking 
some  avenue  of  escape,  and  then  they  saw  that 
Pierre  was  not  alone.  Every  thicket,  toward 
which  they  turned  their  eyes,  bristled  with 
weapons,  and  a  dozen  revolvers  were  leveled 
straight  at  their  heads.  It  was  useless  to  think 
of  flight. 


168    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEBO8. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PIERRE   AND   HIS   BAND. 

"  TT ALT,  I  say ! "  repeated  Pierre,  ridiag  up 
^  beside  Frank,  and  seizing  his  horse  by 
the  bridle.  "  Disarm  them,  men,  and  shoot 
down  the  first  one  that  resists,"  he  added,  as 
the  band  closed  up  around  the  boys. 

Frank,  seeing,  at  a  glance,  that  it  was  useless 
to  think  of  escape,  sat  quietly  in  his  saddle,  and 
allowed  Pierre  to  take  possession  of  his  rifle, 
pistols,  and  lasso. 

Johnny  and  Archie  also  surrendered  at  dis- 
cretion; but  Arthur,  believing  that  the  time 
had  come  to  retrieve  the  reputation  he  had  lost 
so  ingloriously  a  few  days  before,  determined 
that  he  would  not  surrender  without  a  fight. 
It  "was  a  part  of  his  contract  with  the  robber 
chief,  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  resist  as 
desperately  as  he  pleased,  and  he  took  advan- 
tage of  it.  He  gazed  at  the  Rancheros  for  a 


PIERRE  AND   HIS  BAND.  169 

moment  with  well-assumed  astonishment,  and 
then,  appearing  to  comprehend  the  situation, 
he  shouted: 

"  Stick  together,  fellows,  and  fight  for  your 
liberties!  Don't  give  up,  like  a  pack  of  cow- 
ards !  Knock  'em  down !  Shoot  'em !  Take 
your  hand  off  that  bridle,  you  villain ! " 

As  Arthur  spoke,  he  dashed  his  spurs  into 
the  flanks  of  his  horse,  which  bounded  forward 
so  suddenly,  that  he  jerked  the  bridle  from  the 
grasp  of  the  Ranchero  who  was  holding  him. 

"  Hurrah !  I  'm  free,  boys ! "  he  shouted, 
clubbing  his  gun,  and  swinging  it  around  his 
head.  "  Follow  me,  and  I  '11  show  you  how  we 
used  to  clean  out  the  Indians." 

Arthur's  triumph  was  of  short  duration.  The 
Ranchero,  from  whom  he  had  escaped,  was  at 
his  side  in  an  instant,  and,  again  seizing  his 
bridle  with  one  hand,  he  leveled  a  pistol  full  at 
his  prisoner's  head  with  the  other,  while  Pierre 
caught  his  gun  from  behind,  and  wrested  it 
from  his  grasp.  At  the  same  moment,  a  lasso, 
thrown  by  the  Ranchero  who  had  taken  charge 
of  Archie,  settled  down  over  his  shoulders,  and 
was  drawn  tight. 


170    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

Pierre  and  his  band  were  obeying  their  in- 
structions to  the  very  letter,  indeed,  they  were 
altogether  too  zealous  in  their  efforts  to  appear 
"natural,"  and  Arthur  began  to  be  suspicious 
that  they  were  in  sober  earnest  with  him,  as  well 
as  with  the  others.  He  looked  up  into  Pierre's 
face,  in  the  hope  of  receiving  from  him  some 
friendly  token — a  sly  wink  or  a  nod,  which 
would  satisfy  him  that  he  was  "  all  right,"  and 
in  no  danger  of  receiving  bodily  injury;  but  he 
saw  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  chieftain's  face 
wore  a  terrible  scowl,  and  he  even  lifted  Ar- 
thur's gun  above  his  head,  as  if  he  had  half  a 
mind  to  knock  him  out  of  his  saddle. 

"  Quarter !  quarter ! "  gasped  Arthur,  striv- 
ing, with  nervous  fingers,  to  pull  the  lasso 
from  his  neck,  and  beginning  to  be  thoroughly 
alarmed.  "  I  surrender." 

"Well,  let  that  be  your  last  attempt  at  es- 
cape," said  Pierre,  in  a  very  savage  tone  of 
voice,  "  or  you  will  find,  to  your  cost,  that  we 
are  not  to  be  trifled  with." 

In  the  meantime,  the  other  Eancheros,  while 
holding  fast  to  their  prisoners,  had  relieved 
them  of  their  weapons;  and,  as  soon  as  Pierre 


PIEREE  AND   HIS  BAND.  171 

had  seen  Arthur  conquered,  he  seized  the  bridle 
of  the  pack-horse,  while  each  of  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  band  took  charge  of  one  of  the  boys, 
and  the  cavalcade  started  down  the  ravine  at  a 
rapid  gallop. 

All  this  happened  in  much  less  time  than  we 
have  taken  to  describe  it.  Before  the  young 
hunters  had  fairly  recovered  from  the  astonish- 
ment caused  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  Pierre 
ind  his  band,  they  had  been  disarmed,  and 
xere  being  led  captive  into  the  mountains. 

Frank  and  his  two  friends  were  more  bewil- 
dered than  alarmed.  The  whole  thing  was  so 
unexpected,  and  had  been  accomplished  so 
quickly  and  quietly !  Remembering  the  par- 
ticulars of  Frank's  previous  encounter  with 
Pierre  Costello,  they  did  not  stand  in  fear  of 
bodily  harm.  Although  they  had  not  the 
slightest  suspicion  that  their  capture  was  the 
result  of  treachery  on  the  part  of  Arthur  Vane, 
they  well  understood  the  motives  of  the  rob- 
bers, and  knew,  as  well  as  if  Pierre  had  ex- 
plained tin:-  matter  to  them,  that  they  were  to 
be  used  as  a  means  to  extort  money  from  their 
relatives,  and  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear,  so 


172        FBANK  AMONG  THE   BANCHEBOS. 

long  as  they  submitted  quietly  to  their  enemies. 
But  this  was  something  that  one  of  the  three 
boys,  at  least,  had  no  intention  of  doing. 
Frank's  brain  was  already  busy  with  plans  for 
escape.  He  had  twice  beaten  Pierre  at  his  own 
game,  and,  if  the  robber  did  not  keep  his  wits 
about  him,  he  would  do  it  again.  As  for  Ar- 
thur, although  his  plans  were,  thus  far,  as  suc- 
cessful as  he  could  have  desired,  he  was  very 
much  disappointed.  The  three  boys,  who  had 
dared  to  hold  him  up  to  the  people  of  the  set- 
tlement in  his  true  character,  were  prisoners, 
and  he  had  Pierre's  assurance  that  they  would 
remain  such  until  the  demands  he  intended  to 
make  upon  their  relatives  should  be  complied 
with.  But,  after  all,  Arthur  did  not  experi- 
ence the  satisfaction  he  had  hoped  he  would, 
for  the  robbers  had  treated  him  very  roughly. 
The  chief  had  raised  his  own  gun  over  his 
head;  another  had  choked  him  with  his  lasso, 
and  a  third  had  pointed  a  loaded  pistol  at  him. 
That  was  a  nice  way  to  treat  a  visitor!  Ar- 
thur began  to  wish  that  he  had  never  had  any 
thing  t)  do  with  Pierre  and  his  band. 

The   chief,  who  rode  in  advance   with   the 


PIERRE   AND    HIS    BAND.  173 

pack-horse,  led  the  way  at  a  break-neck  pace, 
and  the  boys,  being  one  behind  the  other,  each 
in  company  with  the  Ranchero  who  had  him  in 
charge,  were  allowed  no  opportunity  to  con- 
verse with  one  another,  even  had  they  desired 
it.  Frank,  for  want  of  something  better  to  do, 
began  to  make  an  examination  of  the  members 
of  the  band.  Like  their  leader,  they  were  full- 
blooded  Mexicans,  with  enormous  mustaches, 
and  long,  tangled  hair,  which  looked  as  though 
it  had  never  seen  a  comb.  They  were  dressed 
in  gay-colored  clothes — blue  jackets,  buckskin 
pants,  very  wide  at  the  knee,  and  covered  with 
buttons,  ribbons,  and  gold  lace.  They  wore  long 
sashes  around  their  waists,  which  were  thrust 
full  of  bowie-knives  and  revolvers.  They  carried 
short,  heavy  rifles,  slung  over  their  shoulders 
by  leather  bands,  and  behind  their  saddles  were 
their  ponchos,  which  did  duty  both  as  overcoats 
and  beds.  Taken  altogether,  they  were  a  hard- 
looking  set,  and  seemed  capable  of  any  atrocity. 
The  man  who  had  charge  of  Frank  was  partic- 
ularly noticeable  in  this  respect,  and  our  hero 
thought  that  all  he  needed  were  the  leggins, 
and  high-pointed  hat,  to  make  him  a  first-class 


174    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

brigand.  This  man  kept  a  sharp  eye  upon  1m 
prisoner,  and  scowled  at  him,  as  if  he  regarded 
him  as  his  most  implacable  foe. 

"You  need  n't  look  so  mad,"  said  Frank,  at 
length.  "  I  do  n't  remember  that  I  ever  did 
you  any  harm,  and  I  certainly  am  not  foolish 
enough  to  try  to  escape,  as  long  as  you  keep 
hold  of  my  bridle." 

"You  had  better  not,"  said  the  Ranchero, 
smiling  grimly,  and  shaking  his  head  in  a  very 
threatening  manner. 

"  I  do  n't  know  that  you  can  frighten  me," 
returned  Frank,  coolly.  "  I  wish  I  was  a  man 
for  about  five  minutes." 

"What  would  you  do?"  asked  the  Ranchero, 
who  seemed  to  be  pleased,  as  well  as  astonished, 
at  the  boy's  courage  and  independence. 

"  I  'd  make  your  head  and  your  heels  change 
places  in  a  great  hurry.  In  other  words,  I  'd 
knock  you  out  of  your  saddle.  Then  I  'd  say : 
'Good-by,  Mr. — Mr.' — what's  your  name?" 

"  Mercedes — Antoine  Mercedes." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Mercedes,  I  '11  never  forget  that 
benevolent-looking  face  of  yours.  As  I  was  say- 
iiig,  1  would  bid  yo?  good-by,  and  leave.  I  'd 


PIERRE  AND   HIS   BAND.  175 

pass  those  fellows,"  he  added,  jerking  his  thumb 
over  his  shoulder  toward  the  robbers  iu  the 
rear,  "before  they  could  say  ' General  Jackson* 
with  their  mouth's  open.  You  have  n't  git 
a  horse,  in  this  party,  that  can  catch  Rod- 
erick." 

The  Ranchero  smiled  again,  and  tapped  the 
butt  of  one  of  his  revolvers  with  his  finger. 

"  Oh,  you  would  n't  have  a  chance  to  fire  a 
pistol  at  me,"  said  Frank,  quickly.  "By  the 
time  you  could  get  on  your  feet  again,  after  I 
had  knocked  you  down,  I  would  be  a  mile  from 
here.  Did  Pierre  ever  tell  you  how  nicely  I 
fooled  him?"  he  continued,  noticing  that  the 
chief  was  turned  half  around  in  his  saddle, 
listening  to  what  he  had  to  say.  "Well  I  am 
not  surprised  that  he  never  mentioned  it,  for  he 
ought  to  feel  ashamed  of  himself." 

"Ay ;  but  I  have  got  you  fast  this  time,"  said 
Pierre,  with  a  laugh.  "  Let  us  see  how  nicely 
you  will  fool  me  now.  One  at  a  time  here, 
men,"  he  added,  in  a  louder  tone,  "and  keop 
close  watch  of  those  prisoners." 

As  Pierre  spoke,  the  cavalcade  emerged  from 
the  woods,  and  Frank  found  himself  on  the 


176    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

brink  of  a  rocky  chasm,  which  stretched  away 
to  the  right  as  far  as  his  eye  could  reach,  and 
seemed  to  extend  down  into  the  very  bowels  of 
the  earth.  It  was  so  deep  that  his  head  grew 
dizzy,  as  he  looked  into  it.  On  his  left,  and 
directly  in  front  of  him,  was  a  precipitous 
mountain,  the  top  of  which  hung  threateningly 
over  the  gorge  below.  It  seemed  to  Frank  that 
they  could  go  no  farther  in  this  direction,  until 
Pierre  urged  his  horse  upon  a  narrow  ledge  that 
ran  around  the  base  of  the  cliff.  Antoine  fol- 
lowed after  the  pack-horse,  and  Frank  came 
next.  Roderick  pricked  up  his  ears,  looked 
over  into  the  gorge,  and  snorted  loudly.  He 
moved  very  slowly  and  carefully,  and  well  he 
might :  for  a  single  misstep  on  his  part  would 
have  sent  both  him  and  his  rider  to  destruction. 
The  path  was  so  narrow  that,  although  Roder- 
ick walked  on  the  extreme  outer  edge,  Frank's 
feet  now  and  then  brushed  against  the  rock  on 
the  opposite  side.  Our  hero  felt  his  sombrero 
rise  on  his  head,  whenever  he  looked  into  the 
chasm,  or  allowed  himself  to  reflect  how  slight 
an  accident  might  launch  him  into  eternity. 
But  there  was  no  backing  out.  Once  on  that 


PIERRE  AND  HIS   BAND.  177 

ledge,  a  person  must  go  forward ;  for  there  was 
no  room  to  turn  around. 

After  Frank  came  another  of  the  band,  and 
Johnny  followed  at  his  heels.  Archie  and  his 
keeper  came  next,  and  Arthur  and  his  keeper 
brought  up  the  rear.  They  all  rode  fearlessly 
upon  the  ledge,  until  it  came  Arthur's  turn, 
and  then  was  heard  a  cry  of  remonstrance.  The 
young  gentleman,  who  had  been  brave  enough 
to  fill  the  perilous  office  of  scout  among  the 
Indians  of  the  plains,  did  not  possess  the  cour- 
age necessary  to  carry  him  through  this  ordeal. 
He  turned  as  pale  as  death,  and  stopped  his 
horse. 

"  Go  on,"  sternly  commanded  his  keeper. 

"  Oh,  it 's  dangerous,"  returned  Arthur,  in 
pitiful  tones.  "  What  if  my  horse  should  slip 
off?  That  gully  must  be  a  thousand  feet  deep !" 

"  More  than  that,"  said  Archie,  who,  although 
very  far  from  being  pleased  at  his  own  situa- 
tion, could  not  resist  the  inclination  to  torment 
Arthur.  "It  reaches  clear  through  to  India, 
where  you  used  to  hunt  polar  bears." 

"That 's  so,"  said  Johnny ;  "  for  just  now,  as 
I  looked  over  into  the  gorge,  I  saw  a  lot  of 
12 


178         FRANK  AMONG   THE   RANCH  EROS. 

half  naked  Hindoos  tumbling  about  among  the 
icebergs." 

"And  I  heard  them  yelling,"  chimed  in 
Frank ;  "  and  saw  one  of  those  big  white  bears 
after  them." 

"  Go  on ! "  repeated  the  Ranchero,  impa- 
tiently. 

"O,  now,  see  here! "  exclaimed  Arthur,  in  a 
trembling  voice,  trying  to  turn  his  horse's  head 
away  from  the  pass,  "  I  believe,  I  '11 " 

He  was  about  to  say,  that  he  believed  he 
would  not  go  any  further,  but  that  he  would 
return  home  and  leave  Pierre  and  his  band  to 
take  care  of  his  three  enemies;  but  his  keeper 
did  not  give  him  time  to  finish  the  sentence. 
Seeing  that  Arthur  had  no  intention  of  follow- 
ing the  rest  of  the  party,  the  robber  took  his 
lasso  from  the  pommel  of  his  saddle,  and  with 
it  struck  his  prisoner's  horse  a  blow  that  caused 
the  fiery  animal  to  give  one  tremendous  spring, 
which  brought  him  to  the  very  brink  of  the 
precipice.  In  his  efforts  to  stop  himself,  a  por- 
tion of  the  earth  was  detached  by  his  hoofs  and 
fell  with  a  loud  noise  into  the  abyss,  bounding 
down  its  rocky  sides,  and  crashing  through 


PIERRE   AND   HIS   BAND.  179 

bushes  and  branches  of  trees  in  its  rapid  descent 
to  the  bottom.  The  horse,  frightened  by  the 
sound,  and  smarting  under  the  blow  of  the 
lasso,  reared  so  straight  upon  his  hind  legs  that 
he  seemed  in  imminent  danger  of  toppling  over 
into  the  chasm;  and  then,  for  the  first  time  in 
his  life,  Arthur  found  himself  in  real  peril.  He 
screamed  loudly,  clung  to  the  horn  of  his  saddle 
with  a  death  grip,  and  closed  his  eyes,  ex- 
pecting every  instant  to  find  himself  whirling 
through  the  air  toward  the  bottom  of  the  gorge. 
But  help  was  near:  the  strong  hand  of  his 
keeper  grasped  the  bridle,  and  brought  the 
horse  back  upon  firm  ground. 

"Now,  then,  go  on!"  commanded  the  Ran- 
chero,  without  giving  his  prisoner  time  to  re- 
cover from  his  fright. 

Arthur  was  powerless  to  obey,  for  so  great 
was  his  terror  that  he  could  not  move  a  muscle  j 
but  his  horse,  being  left  to  himself,  stepped 
boldly  upon  the  ledge,  and  followed  after  the 
rest  of  the  party,  who  had,  by  this  time,  dis- 
appeared around  the  base  of  the  mountain. 


180   FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

A   DINNER  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

pASS  CHRISTIAN— for  that  was  the  jame 
of  the  gorge — was  two  miles  long.  About 
half  that  distance  from  the  entrance,  was  a 
natural  recess  in  the  mountains,  comprising 
perhaps  half  an  acre,  which  was  covered  with 
grass  and  stunted  oaks,  and  watered  by  a  spring 
that  gushed  out  from  under  a  huge  bowlder, 
which  had  fallen  into  the  glade  from  the  mount- 
ains above.  Here  the  robber  chief  had  decided 
to  remain  long  enough  to  send  a  message  to 
Mr.  "Winters.  The  horses  had  been  unsaddled, 
and  were  cropping  the  grass,  and  the  Ran- 
cheros  were  stretched  out  under  the  shade  of  the 
trees — all  except  two  of  their  number,  one  of 
whom,  having  lighted  a  fire,  was  engaged  in 
oooking  the  dinner,  and  the  other  was  standing 
near  the  entrance  to  the  glade,  leaning  on  his 
rifle,  and  keeping  a  close  watch  over  the  pris- 


A  DINNEB  IN  THE  MOUBTrAINS.          181 

oners.  Frank  and  his  two  friends  were  reposing 
on  their  blankets  near  the  spring,  and  when 
Arthur  rode  up,  they  greeted  him  with  a  broad 
grin. 

"Well,  Colonel,"  said  Frank,  "you  come 
near  going  back  to  India  by  a  short  route, 
did  n't  you  ?" 

"  Did  you  ever  travel  on  horseback  in  such 
frightful  places  as  this,  during  your  wanderings 
in  Europe  ?"  asked  Johnny. 

Arthur  had,  by  this  time,  somewhat  recovered 
from  his  fright,  though  his  face  was  still  very 
pale,  and  he  drew  a  long  breath  every  now  and 
then,  when  he  thought  of  the  dangers  he  had 
passed  through. 

"No,"  he  replied,  to  Johnny's  question.  "I 
never  traveled  much  among  the  mountains.  It 
always  makes  my  head  dizzy,  to  look  down 
from  a  height." 

"  How,  then,  did  you  stand  it,"  said  Archie, 
with  a  sly  wink  at  his  companions,  "  when  you 
were  perched  upon  the  '  very  top  of  the  middle 
mast'  of  your  ship,  looking  out  for  whales?" 

"  Eh  ?"  exclaimed  Arthur.  "  Why—I—you 
know  " 


182         FRANK  AMONG  THE    RANCHERO8. 

Arthur  was  cornered.  He  did  not  know  how 
to  answer  this  question,  so  he  kneeled  down  by 
the  spring,  and  took  a  drink,  in  order  to  gain 
time  to  reflect.  "  I  was  obliged  to  stand  it," 
said  he,  at  length,  looking  up  at  his  companions. 
"  I  could  n't  help  myself.  I  say,  boys/'  he 
added,  desiring  to  turn  the  conversation  into 
another  channel,  "  you  've  got  us  into  a  nice 
scrape  by  your  cowardice.  If  you  had  followed 
me,  those  fellows  would  have  been  the  prisoners 
now." 

At  this  moment  the  robber  chief  approached 
the  group,  holding  in  his  hand  a  sheet  of  soiled 
paper  and  a  lead  pencil.  "Take  these,"  said 
he,  handing  the  articles  to  Frank,  "  and  write 
to  your  uncle,  telling  him  how  matters  stand. 
Say  to  him  that  you  and  your  friends  are 
prisoners,  that  I  am  going  to  take  you  where 
no  one  will  ever  think  of  looking  for  you,  and 
that  when  I  am  paid  eighty  thousand  dollars 
in  gold,  I  will  set  you  at  liberty,  and  not  before. 
Tell  him,  further,  that  I  shall  send  this  note  to 
him  by  one  of  my  men;  and  that  if  he  does  not 
return  in  safety  by  sunrise  to-morrow  morning, 
I  will  make  scare-crows  of  you." 


A   DINNER   IN   THE   MOUNTAINS.          183 

Frank  picked  up  his  saddle-bags,  which  he 
used  as  a  desk,  and,  after  borrowing  the  robber's 
bowie-knife  to  sharpen  his  pencil,  he  began  the 
letter,  and  wrote  down  what  Pierre  had  dic- 
tated, using  as  nearly  as  possible  the  chief's 
own  words. 

u  That 's  all  right,"  said  the  latter,  when  hia 
prisoner  had  read  the  letter  aloud. 

"  Now,"  said  Frank,  "  may  I  not  add  a 
postscript,  telling  Uncle  James  that  we  are  well 
and  hearty,  and  that  we  have  been  kindly 
treated,  and  so  on." 

"  Certainly ;  only  be  careful  that  you  do  not 
advise  him  to  capture  my  messenger." 

Frank  again  picked  up  his  pencil,  and  wrote 
as  follows : 

"The  above  was  written  by  Pierre's  com- 
mand, and  I  have  his  permission  to  say  a  word 
for  ourselves.  You  need  not  pay  out  any 
money  for  Archie  and  me;  and  I  know  that 
if  I  was  allowed  an  opportunity  to  talk  to 
Johnny,  he  would  send  the  same  message  to 
his  father.  We  are  now  in  Pass  Christian — 
a  difficult  place  to  escape  from,  but  we  intend 
to  make  the  attempt  this  very  night.  Detain 


184        FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCHEROS. 

Pierre's  messenger,  by  all  means;  then  send 
Dick  and  Bob  with  a  party  of  men  up  here  by 
daylight,  and  they  can  capture  every  one  of  these 
villains." 

That  was  what  Frank  added  to  the  letter, 
but,  when  Pierre  ordered  him  to  read  it,  he 
made  up  a  postscript  as  he  went  along ;  for  he 
knew  that  if  the  chief  were  made  acquainted 
with  the  real  contents  of  the  note,  he  would 
not  send  it.  The  Ranchero  did  not  know  one 
letter  from  another,  and  he  was  obliged  to  rely 
entirely  upon  Frank,  who  read : 

"  We  're  all  hunky-dory  thus  far.  Pierre 
do  n't  seem  to  be  so  bad  a  fellow,  after  all ;  in 
fact,  he  's  a  brick.  He  treats  us  like  gentle- 
men ;  but,  of  course,  we  'd  rather  be  at  home,  so 
please  send  on  the  money  for  Archie  and  me, 
and  see  that  Mr.  Harris  and  Mr.  Vane  do  the 
game  for  Johnny  and  Arthur." 

"You're  sure,  now,"  said  Pierre,  as  Frank 
handed  him  the  letter,  after  addressing  it  to 
Mr.  Winters,  "that  you  haven't  told  your 
uncle  where  we  are,  or  advised  him  to  try  to 
rescue  you?" 

"There's  the   note,"   replied   the  prisoner, 


A  DINNER   IN   THE  MOUNTAINS.          185 

"  and  if  you  think  I  have  been  trying  to  deceive 
you,  read  it  yourself." 

"  I  guess  it 's  all  right,"  said  the  chief.  "  At 
any  rate,  I  '11  run  the  risk.  I  have  treated  you 
like  gentlemen,  and  if  you  want  me  to  con- 
tinue to  do  so,  you  must  behave  yourselves,  and 
not  try  to  play  any  tricks  upon  me.  Now, 
mind  what  I  say.  If  any  of  you  hear  the 
others  talking  of  escape,  and  do  n't  tell  me  of 
it,  I'll  pitch  every  one  of  you  into  that  gully." 

Having  given  utterance  to  this  threat,  and 
emphasized  it  by  scowling  savagely  at  his  pris- 
oners, Pierre  turned  on  his  heel  and  walked 
away. 

By  this  time,  dinner  was  ready,  and  the  boys 
were  invited  to  sit  down  and  help  themselves. 
The  principal  dish  was  dried  meat,  but  there 
were  luxuries  in  the  shape  of  sandwiches,  cakes, 
crackers,  and  tea  and  coffee,  which  the  cook 
had  found  in  the  pack-saddle,  and  which  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  appropriate.  The  table 
wa*  the  ground  under  one  of  the  trees,  and 
the  grass  did  duty  both  as  table-cloth  and 
dishes. 

"  Now,  boys/'  said  the  chief,  "  here  's  a  din- 


186    FRANK.  AMOXG  THE  RANOHEEOS. 

ncr  fit  for  a  king.  Pitch  in,  and  do  n't  stand 
upon  ceremony." 

"I  do  n't  think  you  will  find  us  at  all  bash- 
ful," said  Archie,  dryly,  "seeing  that  the  most 
of  this  grub  belongs  to  us." 

As  the  robbers  and  their  prisoners  were  hungry 
after  their  long  ride,  they  fell  to  work  in  earnest. 
Archie  sat  on  his  knees  in  the  midst  of  the 
group,  and,  while  his  teeth  were  busy  upon  a 
sandwich,  his  eyes  wandered  from  one  to  an- 
other of  the  Rancheros,  and  finally  rested  upon 
Mr.  Mercedes,  whose  actions  instantly  riveted 
his  attention.  It  had  evidently  been  a  long 
time  since  the  robbers  had  sat  down  to  a  re- 
spectable dinner,  and  they  all  seemed  deter- 
mined to  make  the  most  of  it — especially  An- 
toine,  who  devoted  his  attention  entirely  to  the 
eatables  that  had  been  found  in  the  pack-sad- 
dle. He  lay  stretched  out  at  full  length  on  the 
ground,  one  hand  being  occupied  in  supporting 
his  head,  and  the  other  in  transferring  the 
sandwiches  from  the  table  to  his  capacious 
mouth.  Two  of  the  sandwiches  would  have 
made  a  good  meal  for  an  ordinary  man,  unless 
he  was  very  hungry;  but  they  did  net  go  far 


A   DINNER   IN   THE   MOUNTAINS.          187 

toward  satisfying  the  appetite  of  Mr.  Mercedes, 
for,  during  the  short  time  that  Archie  sat  look- 
ing at  him,  he  put  no  less  than  half  a  dozen 
out  of  sight,  and  seemed  to  have  room  for 
plenty  more.  Archie  began  to  be  alarmed.  By 
the  time  he  could  finish  one  sandwich,  Antoine 
would  have  swallowed  every  one  on  the  table, 
and  there  would  be  nothing  left  but  the  dried 
meat. 

"Will  the  small  gentleman  from  Maine  be 
kind  enough  to  pass  the  plum-pudding  —  I 
mean  the  one  that's  got  the  most  raisins  in 
it?"  said  Johnny,  who  was  inclined  to  be  face- 
tious. 

"See  here,  fellows!"  exclaimed  Archie,  and 
the  earnest  expression  of  his  countenance  ar- 
rested the  laughing  at  once.  "  This  is  no  time 
for  joking.  The  rule  of  this  boarding-house 
seems  to  be,  Look  out  for  number  one.  I  in- 
tend to  do  it;  and,  if  you  want  to  get  any 
Ihing  to  eat,  you  had  better  follow  my  ex- 
ample,'7 

So  saying,  he  caught  up  three  or  four  sand- 
wiches, and  half  a  dozen  cakes,  and  started  to- 
ward the  spring,  where  he  sat  down  to  finish 


188        FKANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEKOS. 

his  dinner.  The  other  boys  comprehended  this 
piece  of  strategy,  and,  in  less  time  than  it  takes 
to  tell  it,  the  table  was  cleared  of  every  thing 
except  the  dried  meat.  Mr.  Mercedes  uttered 
an  angry  growl,  and  gazed  after  Johnny,  who 
had  snatched  the  last  sandwich  almost  out  of 
his  hand,  and  then  whipped  out  his  knife,  and 
turned  his  attention  to  the  meat. 

When  the  robbers  had  finished  their  dinner, 
Pierre  held  a  whispered  consultation  with  one 
of  his  men,  who,  after  placing  Frank's  letter 
carefully  away  in  the  crown  of  his  sombrero, 
mounted  his  horse,  and  rode  down  the  pass. 
The  others,  with  the  exception  of  a  solitary 
sentinel,  sought  their  blankets,  and  the  boys 
were  left  to  themselves. 

"Now,"  said  Johnny,  in  a  whisper,  address- 
ing himself  to  Frank,  "  tell  us  what  you  wr^te 
in  that  postscript.  You  surely  did  not  :.'ik 
your  uncle  to  send  any  money  for  you  i  'u  1 
Archie?" 

"Of  course  not!"  replied  Frank.  "I,  i  ,r 
one,  am  not  worth  twenty  thousand  dollan  ; 
and  I  would  rather  stay  here  until  I  am  gray- 
headed,  and  live  on  nothing  but  dried  me;  t 


A   DINNER   IN  THE   MOUNTAINS.          189 

all  the  while,  than  ask  Uncle  James  to  give 
twenty  cents  for  me  " 

"That 's  the  talk,"  said  Johnny,  approvingly, 
while  Archie  raised  himself  on  his  elbow,  and 
patted  his  cousin  on  the  back.  Frank  then  re- 
peated what  he  had  written  in  the  postscript, 
as  nearly  as  he  could  recollect  it,  and  it  was 
heartily  indorsed  by  all  the  boys,  even  includ- 
ing Arthur  Vane,  who  said: 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  that  you  are  recovering 
your  courage,  Frank.  If  you  had  all  showed 
a  little  pluck,  when  Pierre  attacked  us  this 
morning,  we  should  not  have  been  in  this  pre- 
dicament." 

"We'll  not  argue  that  point  now,"  said 
Archie.  "  Let 's  talk  about  our  plans  for  escape. 
By  the  way,  what  sort  of  fellows  do  you  sup- 
pose Pierre  takes  us  for,  if  he  imagines  that 
he  can  frighten  us  into  carrying  tales  about  one 
another?" 

"I'd  like  to  know,  too,"  said  Arthur,  sit- 
ting up  on  his  blanket,  and  looking  very  indig- 
nant. "I  wonder  if  he  is  foolish  enough  to 
believe  that  one  of  us  would  tell  him,  if  he 
heard  the  others  talking  of  escape!  If  I 


190    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

thought  there  was  one  in  this  party  mean 
enough  to  do  that,  I  would  never  speak  to  him 
again." 

"  Now,  do  n't  you  be  alarmed,"  said  Johnny. 
"  We  've  been  through  too  much  to  go  back  on 
each  other.  But  how  shall  we  get  away  ?  that  'a 
the  question." 

"  Let  us  rush  up  and  knock  them  down,  and 
pitch  them  over  into  the  gully,"  said  Arthur. 
"Follow  me;  I'll  get  you  out  of  this  scrape." 

"We  couldn't  gain  any  thing  by  a  fight," 
said  Frank.  "Four  boys  are  no  match  for 
five  grown  men." 

"  I  'd  give  Sleepy  Sam  if  I  could  only  see 
Dick  and  Bob  poke  their  noses  over  some  of 
these  rocks  around  here,"  said  Archie.  "  They 
will  be  after  us,  as  soon  as  they  find  out  that 
we  are  captured;  and  when  they  get  their  eyes 
on  these  '  Greasers,'  as  they  call  them,  there  '11 
!>e  fun." 

"  But  we  do  n't  want  to  wait  for  them,"  said 
Frank.  "We  must  escape  to-night,  if  possi- 
ble. We  can  find  our  way  home  from  here; 
but,  if  we  stay  with  these  villains  two  or  three 
days  longer,  they  will  have  taken  us  so  far  into 


A    DINNEB   IN  THE   MOUNTAINS.          191 

the  mountains,  that  we  never  can  get  out.  I 
propose  that  we  wait  until  dark,  and  see  what 
arrangements  they  intend  to  make  for  the 
night,  before  we  determine  upon  our  plans.  If 
they  allow  us  to  remain  unbound,  and  leave 
only  one  sentinel  to  guard  us,  we'll  see  what 
can  be  done.  In  the  meantime,  I  move  that  we 
all  take  a  nap." 

The  prisoners  settled  themselves  comfortably 
on  their  blankets,  and,  in  a  few  moments,  three 
of  them  were  sleeping  soundly,  all  unconscious 
of  the  fact  that  their  wide-awake  companion 
was  impatiently  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  re- 
peat to  the  robber  chief  every  word  of  their 
recent  conversation. 

"Pierre  said,  that  if  any  of  us  heard  the 
others  talking  of  escape,  and  didn't  tell  him  of 
it,  he  would  pitch  us  over  that  precipice,"  mut- 
tered Arthur.  "He  looked  straight  at  me 
when  he  said  it;  so  I  shall  take  him  at  his 
word,  and  put  him  on  his  guard  against  these 
fellows.  I'll  not  go  back  on  them — O,  no! 
Johnny  Harris  did  n't  call  me  a  coward,  did 
he?  And  that  little  spindle-shanked  Yankee, 
and  his  cousin,  did  n't  insult  me,  by  sending  me 


192    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

my  hat  and  gun,  and  the  skin  of  that  wolf, 
and  by  telling  every  body  in  the  settlement 
that  I  was  frightened  out  of  my  senses,  with- 
out seeing  any  thing  to  be  frightened  at,  did 
they?  I'd  like  to  catch  that  Archie  Winters 
by  himself.  He  's  little,  and  I  am  sure  that  I 
could  whip  him.  I'll  pay  them  all  for  what 
they  have  done  to  me,  and  before  I  get  through 
with  them,  they  will  learn,  that  it  is  always 
best  to  treat  a  gentleman  with  respect." 

As  Arthur  said  this,  he  looked  contemptu- 
ously at  his  slumbering  companions,  and  then 
his  ba^k  to  them,  and  went  to  sleep. 


MORE    TREACHERY.  193 


CHAPTER  XV. 

MORE    TREACHERY. 

117 HEN  Frank  awoke,  it  was  nearly  dark. 
The  glade  was  lighted  up  by  a  fire,  that 
one  of  the  Rancheros  had  kindled,  and  beside 
which  he  stood,  superintending  the  cooking  of 
the  supper.  Archie  and  Johnny  were  still 
sleeping  soundly,  but  Arthur  Vane's  blanket 
was  empty,  and  that  young  gentleman  was  no- 
where to  be  seen. 

Frank  raised  himself  to  a  sitting  posture, 
rubbed  his  eyes,  and  yawned ;  and  then,  seeing 
that  the  cook  was  rummaging  in  the  pack-saddle 
after  more  luxuries,  and  judging  by  that  that 
supper  was  nearly  ready,  he  shook  his  compan- 
ions, and  arose  to  his  feet.  He  went  to  the 
epring,  and  was  preparing  to  wash  his  hands  and 
face  in  the  little  brook  that  ran  across  the  glade, 
when  his  attention  was  attracted  by  the  sound 
of  voices  close  by.  He  found  that  they  came 
13 


194        FBA.NK   AMONG  THE   EANCHERO8. 

from  behind  the  bowlder ;  and,  after  listening  a 
moment,  he  recognized  the  voices  as  those  of 
Pierre  Costello,  and  Arthur  Vane.  At  first, 
Frank  thought  nothing  of  this  circumstance. 
He  bent  over  the  brook,  and  plunged  his  hands 
into  the  water,  when  the  thought  occurred  to 
him  that  this  was  a  strange  proceeding  on  the 
part  of  Arthur  Vane.  If  the  latter  had  any 
thing  to  say  to  the  chief,  why  did  he  not  talk 
to  him  in  the  camp?  Frank's  suspicions  were 
aroused.  He  stood,  for  a  moment,  undecided 
how  to  act,  and  then,  dropping  on  his  hands 
and  knees,  he  crept  cautiously  around  the  end 
of  the  bowlder,  and  presently  came  in  sight 
of  Pierre  and  his  companion.  They  were  sit- 
ting on  the  ground,  facing  each  other — the 
chief  calmly  smoking  a  cigarette,  while  Ar- 
thur was  amusing  himself  by  cutting  the 
grass  around  him  with  the  Ranchero's  bowie- 
knife. 

"  This  is  very  odd,"  thought  Frank.  "  Ai> 
thur  acts  more  like  a  confidential  friend  than  a 
prisoner." 

Our  hero  drew  back,  and  listened  to  the  con- 
versation that  followed,  during  which  he  gained 


MORE   TREACHERY.  195 

Borne  insight  into  the  character  of  his  new  ac- 
quaintance. 

"  I  do  not  admire  your  way  of  doing  busi- 
ness," he  heard  Arthur  say,  at  length.  "You 
treat  me  no  better  than  you  treat  them.  You 
told  me  that  you  knew  by  my  looks  that  I  was 
a  gentleman,  and  you  promised  to  respect  me 
as  such.  You  assured  me  that  I  should  be  al- 
lowed to  show  fight  whenever  I  pleased,  and 
that  you  would  not  hurt  me  for  it.  How  have 
you  kept  those  promises  ?  What  did  you  do  to 
me  this  morning  ?  You  jerked  my  gun  out  of 
my  hands,  and  raised  it  over  my  head,  as  if  you 
were  going  to  knock  me  down.  One  of  your 
men  threw  his  lasso  around  my  neck,  and 
choked  me  until  I  could  scarcely  breathe,  and 
another  aimed  a  pistol  at  me.  Is  that  treating 
me  like  a  gentleman  or  a  visitor?" 

"What  else  could  we  do?"  demanded  Pierre. 
tl  Did  n't  you  tell  me  that  you  wanted  us  to  act 
natural,  so  that  your  three  enemies  would  not 
suspect  that  you  had  a  previous  understanding 
with  me  in  regard  to  their  capture?" 

"Certainly;  but  I  didn't  tell  you  to  abuse 
me,  did  I?  See  how  I  was  treated  when  we 


196    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

were  coming  through  this  pass!  My  keeper 
Btruck  my  horse  with  his  lasso,  and  came  near 
sending  me  over  the  precipice ;  and  you  laughed 
at  it.  When  I  look  toward  you,  why  do  n't 
you  give  me  a  wink,  or  a  nod,  to  show  that  you 
have  not  forgotten  your  promises,  and  that  you 
will  protect  me?" 

"  Because  I  never  have  had  a  chance  to  do  it 
without  being  seen  by  the  others.  If  you  know 
when  you  are  well  off,  you  will  take  every  pre- 
caution to  keep  those  boys  from  finding  out 
how  treacherous  you  have  been.  You  must 
not  expect  any  signs  of  friendship  from  me.  I 
shall  stick  to  my  promise,  and  see  that  no  seri- 
ous injury  is  done  you;  but,  if  you  will  insist 
in  showing  your  courage  by  fighting  us,  you 
must  make  up  your  mind  to  be  roughly  handled. 
You  say  that  Frank  did  n't  read  to  me  what  he 
wrote  in  that  letter?" 

"  No,  he  did  not.  He  never  said  a  word  to 
his  uncle  about  sending  the  money.  He  told 
him  not  to  do  it.  He  advised  him  to  capture 
your  messenger,  by  all  means,  and  to  send  those 
trappers  up  here,  with  a  party  of  men,  by  day- 
light to-morrow  morning." 


MORE  TREACHERY.  197 

"Well,  they  '11  not  find  us,"  said  the  chief, who 
seemed  to  take  the  matter  very  coolly.  "By 
daylight  we  shall  be  miles  from  here.  We'll 
start  as  soon  as  the  moon  rises,  so  that  we  can 
see  to  travel  through  the  pass.  After  supper, 
I  shall  have  those  fellows  bound  hand  and 
foot — that  will  prevent  their  escape,  I  think — 
and,  of  course,  I  must  tie  you,  also." 

"  I  do  n't  like  the  idea  of  lying  all  night  with 
my  hands  fastened  behind  my  back,"  objected 
Arthur. 

"  I  can't  help  that.  Those  boys  must  be  con- 
fined; for  I  am  not  going  to  lose  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars,  if  I  can  help  it ;  and,  if  you  wish 
to  avoid  suspicion,  you  must  be  tied  with  the 
rest." 

"I  shall  resist.  I  want  to  make  those  fel- 
lows believe  that  they  are  a  pack  of  cowards. 
Do  n't  let  your  men  handle  me  too  roughly." 

"  I  '11  look  out  for  that,"  said  Pierre.  "  Now, 
let  us  go  back  to  the  camp.  You  have  been 
away  too  long  already." 

"  O,  you  outrageous  villain  ! "  thought  Frank, 
who  was  so  astonished  and  bewildered  by  what 
he  had  heard,  that  he  scarcely  knew  what  he 


198    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

was  about.  "Won't  you  suffer  for  this  day's 
work  if  we  ever  get  back  to  the  settlement?" 

The  movements  of  the  traitor,  who  just  then 
arose  to  his  feet,  brought  Frank  to  himself 
again.  He  retreated  precipitately,  and,  when 
Arthur  came  out  from  behind  the  bowlder,  he 
was  sitting  on  his  blanket,  talking  to  Archie 
and  Johnny. 

"Fellows,"  said  he,  in  an  excited  voice, 
"we're  ruined!  That  rascal  has  blabbed  the 
whole  thing ! " 

"Who?  What  rascal?  what  thing?"  asked 
both  the  prisoners  in  a  breath.  "  What 's  the 
matter  with  you?"  added  Archie,  in  some 
alarm,  seeing  that  his  cousin  wore  an  exceed- 
ingly long  face. 

"Arthur  Vane  has  just  told  Pierre  that  we 
had  made  up  our  minds  to  escape  to-night," 
replied  Frank. 

"  No ! "  exclaimed  the  boys,  almost  paralyzed 
by  the  information. 

"It's  a  fact.  After  supper,  we  are  to  be 
bound  hand  and  foot ;  and  Arthur,  to  show  how 
brave  he  is,  and  how  cowardly  we*are,  is  going 
to  resist,  and  Pierre  has  promised  that  his  men 


MORE  TREACHERY.  199 

ahall  not  handle  him  roughly.  O,  you  '11  find 
out ! "  he  continued,  seeing  that  his  friends 
looked  incredulous.  "I  crept  up  behind  that 
bowlder,  and  heard  all  about  it.  I  did  not  un- 
derstand all  the  conversation ;  but  I  know  that 
Arthur  is  a  traitor,  and  that  we  are  indebted  to 
him  for  our  capture." 

Archie  and  Johnny  were  utterly  confounded. 
They  could  not  find  words  strong  enough  to 
express  their  feelings.  They  sat  on  their  blank- 
ets, and  looked  at  each  other  in  blank  amaze- 
ment. Presently,  Arthur  came  in  sight,  and 
his  appearance  served  to  restore  their  power  of 
action  ;  and  then,  for  the  first  time,  they  seemed 
to  realize  the  full  enormity  of  the  offense  of 
which  he  had  been  guilty.  Archie  jumped 
to  his  feet,  and  commenced  pulling  off  his 
jacket. 

"  Fellows,"  said  he,  throwing  down  his  som- 
brero, and  rolling  up  his  shirt-sleeves,  "  I  'm 
going  to  pound  some  of  the  meanness  out  of 
him." 

"And  I'll  help  you!"  exclaimed  Johnny, 
excitedly.  "  Who  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing?" 
And  Johnny  brought  his  fist  down  into  the 


200    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

palm  of  his  hand,  with  a  noise  like  the  report 
of  a  pistol. 

"  Do  n't  do  it,  boys ! "  interposed  Frank. 
"Come  here,  Archie!  Sit  down,  Johnny.  He 
will  be  punished  enough,  when  he  gets  back  to 
the  settlement.  Let's  cut  him  at  once,  and 
have  nothing  more  to  do  with  him.  Johnny, 
put  on  your  jacket !  Behave  yourself,  Archie ! " 

Frank  found  it  hard  work  to  turn  the  two 
boys  from  their  purpose.  Their  indignation 
had  been  thoroughly  aroused,  and,  if  Arthur 
had  only  known  it,  he  was  in  a  dangerous 
neighborhood.  Although  Frank  was  quite  as 
angry  as  his  friends,  he  had  more  prudence. 
He  did  not  believe  that  they  were  the  proper 
ones  to  execute  vengeance  upon  their  enemy. 
His  punishment  would  come  soon  enough,  and 
it  would  be  quite  as  terrible  as  Arthur  was 
able  to  bear.  By  dint  of  a  good  deal  of  coax- 
ing, and  pushing,  and  scolding,  he  finally  got 
Archie  and  Johnny  on  their  blankets  again, 
and  just  then  the  traitor  came  up.  His  face 
wore  a  triumphant  smile,  that  was  exceedingly 
irritating  to  the  three  boys  just  then,  and  he 
approached  them  with  as  much  assurance  as 


MOEE  TREACHERY.  201 

though  he  had  never  in  his  life  been  guilty  of 
a  mean  action. 

"  I  have  been  out  enjoying  the  cool  breeze," 
said  he,  not  noticing  the  angry  glances  that 
were  directed  toward  him. 

''  Put  it  all  in,  while  you  are  about  it,"  ex- 
claimed Johnny.  "  Say  that  you  have  been 
holding  a  consultation  with  Pierre,  in  regard  to 
our  escape  to-night." 

Arthur  turned  very  red  in  the  face,  and  took 
a  step  or  two  backward,  as  if  Johnny  had 
aimed  a  blow  at  him;  and  then,  somewhat  re- 
covering himself,  he  opened  his  eyes,  puckered 
up  his  lips,  and  looked  from  one  to  the  other  of 
his  companions,  with  an  expression  of  intense 
astonishment. 

"How,  now,  Innocence!"  exclaimed  Archie. 
"  You  're  a  nice  looking  fellow.  Go  away  from 
here." 

"  Why,  boys,"  stammered  Arthur,  "  I  do  not 
understand  you.  I  have  not  seen  Pierre" 

"  Go  away ! "  said  Johnny,  again  rising  to  his 
feet — a  movement  that  was  instantly  imitated 
by  the  pugnacious  Archie. 

"Can't  you  tell  me  what's  the  matter?"  de- 


202   FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

manded  Arthur,  making  a  desperate  effort  to 
look  unconcerned,  and  to  call  up  some  of  that 
courage  of  which  he  had  so  often  boasted. 

"  Have  you  got  the  impudence — the  brass,  to 
come  to  us,  and  ask  what 's  the  matter,  after 
what  you  have  done?"  asked  Archie,  angrily. 
"We'll  soon  let  you  know  what's" 

"  Hold  on,  boys ! "  interrupted  Frank,  who 
saw  that  Archie's  rage  was  in  a  fair  way  to  get 
the  better  of  him.  "  Johnny,  stand  back  i 
Keep  still,  Archie!  Go  about  your  business, 
Arthur  Vane!  We  know  just  what  passed  be- 
tween you  and  Pierre,  not  five  minutes  ago, 
and  we  don't  want  to  listen  to  any  excuses  or 
explanations." 

"  Explanations !  "  shouted  Archie.  "  Ex- 
cuses !  for  being  a  traitor ! " 

"Go  over  there  among  those  yellow  gentle- 
men," continued  Frank.  "  You  are  their  friend, 
and  there 's  where  you  belong.  Do  n't  dare 
come  near  any  of  us  again.  Start ! " 

"Yes,  start  —  mizzle  —  clear  out!"  roared 
Archie,  getting  angrier  every  moment.  "Be- 
gone !  Make  yourself  scarce  about  here ! " 

"  Well,  I  think  this  is  a  nice  way  to  treat  a 


MORE  TREACHERY.  203 

gentleman/'  growled  Arthur,  as  he  turned  on 
his  heel,  and  walked  slowly  away. 

''Pick  up  that  blanket  and  saddle,'5  said 
tlohnny.  "Take  all  your  plunder  away  from 
here,  and  remember  that  this  side  of  the  glade 
belongs  to  us." 

"Yes,  remember  it — bear  it  in  mind!"  ex- 
claimed Archie,  who  seemed  to  think  it  his 
duty  to  give  emphasis  to  what  the  others  said. 
"Think  of  it  continually." 

Arthur  glared  savagely  upon  Archie;  but, 
fearing  to  irritate  him  and  his  friends  further,  by 
refusing  to  obey  their  commands,  he  shouldered 
his  baggage,  and  walked  sullenly  toward  the 
fire,  around  which  the  Rancheros  were  congre- 
gated, awaiting  the  summons  to  supper. 

"  Benedict  Arnold !  "  said  Johnny,  as  soon  as 
the  traitor  was  out  of  hearing. 

Frank  and  Archie  thought  the  name  appro- 
priate. It  clung  to  Arthur  as  long  as  he  re- 
mained in  that  part  of  California. 


204        FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEBO6. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    ESCAPE. 

TTAD  the  huge  bowlder  in  the  middle  of  Iho 
^  glade  suddenly  burst  into  a  thousand  frag- 
ments, it  could  scarcely  have  created  greater 
consternation  than  that  which  filled  our  three 
heroes,  when  they  stretched  themselves  on  their 
blankets,  to  discuss  the  treachery  of  their  com- 
panion. Of  course,  the  first  question  that  arose 
was,  "What  object  could  he  have  in  view?  A 
dozen  different  opinions  were  advanced,  but 
none  of  them  were  correct.  The  boys  were  all 
satisfied  now,  that  no  ransom  was  to  be  de- 
manded for  Arthur,  and  they  were  quite  will- 
ing to  believe  that  he  expected  to  share  in  the 
sixty  thousand  dollars  which  Pierre  hoped  to 
receive  for  them.  They  never  imagined  that 
the  traitor  had  been  instigated  by  a  desire  tc 
be  revenged  upon  them,  and  that  all  that  had 
happened  to  them  during  the  day  was  the  re- 


THE   ESCAPE.  205 

siilt  of  the  incidents  that  had  transpired  during 
their  ride  to  the  old  fur-trader's  ranch. 

"I  really  believe  that  Benedict  Arnold  be- 
ongs  to  this  band  of  outlaws,"  said  Frank. 

If  he  does,  that 's  all  the  good  it  will  do  him, 
is  far  as  handling  any  of  my  uncle's  money  is 
xmcerned.  It 's  lucky  that  we  have  found  him 
>ut." 

"  It 's  unfortunate  that  we  did  n't  find  him 
out  long  ago/'  said  Archie,  who  had  by  this 
time  recovered  his  usual  good  nature. 

"  Our  plans  for  escape  are  all  knocked  in  the 
lead  for  this  night,"  continued  Frank  ;  "  but 
ire  will  hold  ourselves  in  readiness  to  seize  the 
first  opportunity  that  is  offered.  Dick  and  Bob 
will  be  on  our  trail  in  a  few  hours." 

At  this  moment,  Pierre  entered  the  glade 
from  the  side  opposite  the  spring,  and  stopped 
to  say  a  few  words  to  the  sentinel,  who  imme- 
diately approached  the  prisoners,  and  took  his 
§1and  within  a  few  paces  of  them. 

"These  villains  must  be  afraid  of  us,"  said 
Frank,  with  a  laugh. 

"They'd  better  be,"  returned  Johnny.  "I 
Would  n't  like  to  have  sixty  thousand  dollars 


206         FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCHEROS 

•wrapped  up  in  such  slippery  customers  as  TO 
are." 

"I  wonder  if  Pierre  thinks  we  can  fly?" 
said  Archie.  "  That 's  the  only  way  I  can  see 
for  getting  out  of  here,  while  these  robbers  are 
all  around  us.  I  say,  old  fellow,"  he  added, 
turning  to  the  sentinel,  "  are  you  a  good  shot 
on  the  wing?" 

The  Ranchero  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and 
tapped  his  revolvers  significantly. 

"I  judge  from  that  you  are  a  good  shot  on 
the  wing,"  continued  Archie.  "  Let  me  advise 
you  to  keep  both  eyes  open ;  for  the  first  thing 
you  know,  you  '11  see  us  disappearing  over  the 
tops  of  these  mountains.  Each  of  us  has  a  pat- 
ent, duplex,  double-back-action  flying-machine 
in  his  pocket." 

Archie  was  going  on  to  explain  to  the  Ran- 
chero the  principles  on  which  his  imaginary 
flying-machine  operated,  when  the  call  to  sup- 
per interrupted  him. 

During  the  meal,  the  robbers  were  quite  as 
polite  as  they  had  been  at  dinner.  They  gob- 
bled up  every  thing  within  their  reach,  de^our- 
ing  it  greedily,  as  though  they  feared  that 


THE   ESCAPE.  207 

somebody  might  get  more  than  his  share,  and 
the  boys,  having  learned  by  experience,  that, 
when  one  sojourns  among  Romans,  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  do  as  Romans  do,  snatched  what  they 
liked  best,  and  ran  back  to  their  blankets." 

"  Look  at  Benedict,"  said  Johnny,  speaking 
as  plainly  as  a  mouthful  of  cracker  would  per- 
mit. "  He 's  hot  about  something." 

Arthur  was  sitting  on  the  ground  beside  the 
robber  chief,  to  whom  he  was  talking  earnestly, 
and  even  angrily,  judging  by  the  frantic  man- 
ner in  which  he  flourished  his  arms  about  his 
head,  and  struck  with  his  fists  at  the  empty  air. 
Pierre  was  listening  attentively,  and  so  were 
all  the  other  members  of  the  band,  who  ap- 
peared to  be  deeply  interested  in  what  he  was 
saying.  Arthur  had  told  the  chief  that  his  se- 
cret was  discovered,  and  Pierre  had  urged  him 
to  use  every  exertion  to  allay  the  suspicions  of 
the  boys. 

"You  don't  know  them  as  well  as  I  do," 
said  the  Ranchero ;  "  and,  if  you  will  take  my 
advice,  you  will  try  to  make  friends  with  them 
again." 

"  That 's  something  I  '11  never  do,"  said  Ar- 


208    FEANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

thur,  decidedly.  "  Shall  a  gentleman's  son  stoop 
to  beg  the  good-will  of  a  lot  of  young  Arabs? 
Not  if  he  knows  himself;  and  he  thinks  he 
does.  They  have  found  me  out,  somehow,  and 
I  don't  care  if  they  have.  I  may  as  well 
throw  off  the  mask  entirely.  I  '11  let  them 
see  that,  while  they  are  prisoners,  and  bound 
hand  and  foot,  I  am  at  liberty  to  go  and  come 
when  I  please." 

When  Arthur  said  this,  he  was  gazing  into 
the  fire,  and  consequently  did  not  see  the  sig- 
nificant glances  which  the  robber  chief  ex- 
changed with  his  men.  It  might  have  aston- 
ished him  to  know  that  he  was  not  free  to  go 
and  come  when  he  pleased ;  and  that  Pierre,  in 
spite  of  all  his  promises  to  the  contrary,  in- 
tended to  demand  twenty  thousand  dollars  for 
him,  as  well  as  for  the  others. 

When  Frank  and  his  friends  had  eaten  their 
supper,  they  began  to  make  preparations  for 
the  night,  by  collecting  a  pile  of  dried  leaves 
and  grass,  over  which  they  spread  their  blank- 
ets, placing  the  saddles  at  the  head  of  the  bed, 
to  serve  as  pillows.  When  the  couch  was  com- 
pleted, it  was  very  inviting,  and,  had  it  not 


THE   ESCAPE.  209 

been  for  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  they 
were  to  be  bound  hand  and  foot,  they  would 
have  ieen  sure  of  a  good  night's  rest. 

Frank  could  not  go  to  bed  without  visiting 
Roderick.  He  found  the  horse  standing  quietly 
by  the  spHng,  and  when  he  saw  his  master  ap- 
proaching, he  raised  his  head  and  welcomed 
him  with  u  shrill  neigh. 

"O,  if  we  could  only  get  half  a  minute's 
start  of  these  robbers ! "  said  Frank,  patting 
the  animal's  glossy  neck,  "wouldn't  we  show 
them  a  clean  pair  of  heels  ?  They  Jd  never  have 
us  prisoners  again,  I  bet."  . 

Frank  emphasized  the  last  word  by  punch- 
ing Roderick  in  the  ribs  with  his  thumb — an 
action  which  caused  the  animal  to  lay  back  his 
ears,  and  kick  viciously,  with  both  feet,  at  some 
imaginary  object  behind  him. 

When  our  hero  returned  to  the  place  where 
he  had  left  Archie  and  Johnny,  he  saw  them 
lying  on  their  beds  securely  bound.  Pierre 
stood  close  by,  with  a  lasso  in  his  hand,  and, 
when  Frank  came  up,  he  greeted  him  with  a 
fierce  scowl,  and,  in  a  savage  tone  of  voice,  com- 
manded him  to  cioss  his  arms  behind  his  back. 
14 


210    FRANK  AMONG  THE  KANCHEROS. 

Frank  obeyed,  and  the  Ranch  ero,  while  he  waa 
busy  confining  him,  inquired: 

"Do  you  remember  what  I  said  to  you  at 
noon?" 

"About  what?"  asked  Frank. 

"  About  making  scare-crows  of  you  and  your 
friends,  if  my  messenger  does  not  return  at 
daylight." 

"I  believe  I  do  remember  something  about 
it." 

"  Then  why  did  you  advise  your  uncle  to  de- 
tain him?  You  must  be  tired  of  life.  You 
told  Mr.  "Winters  to  send  those  rascally  trap- 
pers up  here,  with  a  party  of  men,  to  capture 
us." 

"Now,  see  here,  Pierre,"  exclaimed  Frank, 
angrily,  "  Dick  and  Bob  are  not  rascals.  They 
are  honest  men,  and  what  they  own,  they  have 
worked  hard  for.  They  will  be  up  here — you 
may  depend  upon  that — and,  if  Dick  once  gets 
his  hands  on  you" 

"  O,  won't  he  shake  him  up,  though ! "  cried 
Archie,  from  his  blanket.  "  I  would  n't  be  in 
Pierre's  shoes  then  for  all  the  money  he  will 
ever  get  for  us." 


THE   ESCAPE.  211 

"You  may  make  up  your  minds  to  one 
thing,"  said  the  chief;  "  and  that  is,  if  so  much 
as  a  hair  of  that  messenger's  head  is  harmed, 
you  will  be  swinging  from  some  of  these  trees 
at  sunrise." 

"  That  is  a  soothing  story  to  tell  to  a  person 
who  is  trying  to  go  to  sleep,"  observed  Johnny. 

"  You  can't  make  us  believe  that  you  would 
throw  away  sixty  thousand  dollars,"  said  Frank. 
"  Be  careful,"  he  added,  as  Pierre,  after  confin- 
ing his  arms  with  one  end  of  the  lasso,  began 
to  wind  the  other  around  his  ankles;  "make 
those  knots  secure,  or  I  may  get  away  from 
you  again." 

"  I  '11  risk  that.  Now,  good-night,  and  pleas- 
ant dreams  to  you." 

The  robber  lifted  Frank  in  his  arms,  and 
laid  him  upon  his  blanket,  as  if  he  had  been  a 
sack  of  flour,  and  then  walked  off,  leaving  his 
prisoners  to  their  meditations.  Scarcely  had 
he  disappeared,  when  Arthur,  who  had  stood 
at  a  little  distance,  watching  the  operations  of 
the  chief,  came  up,  and,  after  regarding  the 
three  boys  a  moment  with  a  smile  of  triumph, 
inquired  • 


212         FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

"How  do  you  feel  now?  I  hope  you  will 
enjoy  a  good  night's  rest.  You  see  I  am  at 
liberty."  And  he  stretched  out  his  arms,  to 
show  that  they  were  not  confined. 

"Of  course,"  said  Frank.  "You  ought  to 
be ;  you  are  one  of  Pierre's  band.  We  are  un- 
der obligations  to  you  for  what  you  have  done 
for  us." 

"How  did  you  find  it  out?"  asked  Arthur. 

"Why,  one  of  those  Arabs  you  used  to  know 
in  Patagonia,  came  up  here,  and  told  us  how 
you  acted  while  you  were  in  that  country,  and 
we  thought  it  best  to  keep  an  eye  on  you,"  an- 
swered Archie. 

"See  here,  Benedict,"  said  Johnny  "Have 
you  forgotten  that  we  told  you  to  keep  your 
distance  ?  " 

"No;  but  I  generally  go  where  I  please," 
replied  Arthur. 

"You  have  done  something  worth  boasting 
of,  haven't  you?" 

"Well — yes;  but  I  am  not  done  with  you 
yet.  If  I  have  any  influence  with  Pierre — and 
I  think  I  have — you'll  not  see  home  for  a 
year — perhaps  longer." 


THE   ESCAPE.  213 

"  Pierre !  Pierre ! "  shouted  At  ?hve,  suddenly. 
"I  say,  Pierre!" 

"  Well,  what's  the  row?"  asked  that  worthy, 
from  his  bed  by  the  fire. 

"  I  '11  make  you  a  present  of  my  horse,  if 
you  will  give  me  my  liberty  for  just  two  min- 
utes. Will  you  doit?" 

"  I  guess  not,"  replied  the  robber. 

"  I  promise  you  that  I  will  not  attempt  any 
tricks,"  pleaded  Archie.  "  I  only  want  to  show 
Benedict  something.  Come,  Pierre,  that's  a 
good  fellow." 

The  Ranchero  laughed,  and  turned  over  on 
his  blanket,  without  making  any  answer,  and 
Archie,  being  satisfied  that  it  was  useless  to 
urge  the  matter,  laid  his  head  upon  his  hard 
pillow,  and  looked  indignantly  at  the  traitor. 

"Never  mind,"  said  he.  "I'll  be  unbound 
to-morrow  morning,  and  I'll  know  how  to  get 
up  an  appetite  for  breakfast." 

Arthur  understood  what  the  prisoner  meant 
by  getting  up  an  appetite  for  breakfast,  and  it 
made  him  angry.  He  was  very  brave,  now. 
His  three  enemies  were  lying  before  him  una- 
ble to  defend  themselves,  and  it  was  a  fine  op- 


214    FKANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHER03. 

port  unity  to  execute  vengeance  upon  them.  He 
suddenly  took  it  into  his  head  that  it  would  be 
a  nice  thing  to  punish  them  all,  beginning  with 
the  one  who  had  first  excited  his  animosity. 

"  Hold  on,  you  little  Yankee,"  said  he.  "  I  >11 
attend  to  you  in  a  minute.  Johnny  Harris, 
what  was  that  name  you  applied  to  me?" 

"  It  was  a  new  one  we  have  given  you,"  an- 
swered Johnny.  "  We  have  called  you  after 
the  meanest  man  that  ever  lived — Benedict  Ar- 
nold. Do  you  know  him?  Did  you  ever  meet 
him  while  you  were  hunting  lions  and  tigers 
in  Europe?" 

Frank  and  his  cousin  laughed  loudly,  which 
so  enraged  Arthur  that  he  caught  up  a  stick, 
that  happened  to  be  lying  near  him,  and  struck 
Johnny  a  severe  blow  with  it. 

"  O,  you  coward ! "  shouted  Archie,  struggling 
frantically  to  free  his  arms.  "What  do  you 
mean  by  hitting  a  man  when  he  is  down,  and 
can't  move  hand  or  foot?" 

The  traitor  turned  fiercely  upon  Archie,  and 
was  about  to  use  the  stick  upon  him,  when  the 
gruif  voice  of  the  sentinel  arrested  his  hand. 
The  Ranchero  pointed  toward  the  fire,  and  Ar- 


THE   ESCAPE.  215 

thur,  understanding  the  motion,  threw  down 
the  stick,  and  walked  away,  shaking  his  head, 
and  muttering  to  himself. 

"He  had  better  keep  close  to  his  friends  to- 
morrow," said  Johnny,  his  face  all  wrinkled  up 
with  pain. 

The  other  boys  thought  so  too.  Each  one 
of  them  had  rather  that  Arthur  had  struck  him 
instead  of  Johnny;  for  the  latter,  although 
high-spirited,  and  inclined  to  be  belligerent 
under  provocation,  was  a  good-natured,  accom- 
modating fellow,  who  gained  hosts  of  friends 
wherever  he  went,  and  who  never  hesitated  to 
make  any  sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of  others. 
Frank  had  never  before  witnessed  such  an  ex- 
hibition of  cowardly  vindictiveness,  and  he  was 
almost  sorry  that  he  had  protected  Arthur. 

The  traitor,  well  satisfied  with  what  he  had 
done,  and  only  regretting  that  he  had  been  inter- 
rupted before  his  revenge  was  complete,  spread 
his  blanket  beside  the  chief;  and,  after  that, 
nothing  happened  for  a  long  time  to  disturb  the 
silence  of  the  camp.  The  Rancheros  were  soon 
iu  a  sound  sleep,  even  including  Antoine  Mer- 
cedes, the  sentinel,  who  sat  with  his  back  against 


216    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEKOS. 

a  tree,  his  head  hung  down  upon  his  breast 
and  his  right  hand,  which  rested  on  the  ground 
beside  him,  grasping  a  revolver.  He  had  been 
placed  there  by  his  chief  to  watch  the  prison- 
ers ;  but,  believing  that  there  was  little  danger 
of  their  escape,  and  being  unwilling  to  be  de- 
prived of  his  usual  rest,  he  had  gone  to  sleep 
as  soon  as  the  others.  The  boys,  however,  were 
wide  awake.  The  exciting  events  of  the  day, 
and  the  pain  occasioned  by  their  bonds,  effec- 
tually banished  sleep  from  their  eyes,  and  they 
passed  the  long  hours  in  pondering  upon  what 
Arthur  had  done,  and  trying  in  vain  to  find  a 
comfortable  position  on  their  blankets.  Johnny, 
especially,  was  very  restless.  He  lay  for  a  long 
time  watching  the  sentinel,  and  thinking  how 
easily  he  and  his  companions  could  effect  their 
escape,  if  their  hands  and  feet  were  free ;  then 
he  wondered  if  Pierre  was  in  earnest,  when  he 
said  that  he  would  make  "scare-crows"  of  them 
if  his  messenger  did  not  return  by  daylight; 
and,  finally,  he  turned  over,  and  tried,  for  the 
hundredth  time,  to  go  to  sleep. 

The  fire,  which  was  still  burning  brightly, 
lighted  up  every  corner  of  the  glade,  and,  from 


THE   ESCAPE.  217 

the  new  position  in  which  he  lay,  Johnny  could 
aee  how  Archie's  arms  were  bound.  They  were 
crossed  behind  his  back,  and  the  lasso  was 
wrapped  twice  around  them,  and  tied  in  a  square 
knot-— a  single  glance  at  which  drove  all 
thoughts  of  sleep  out  of  Johnny's  mind,  and 
suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  an  attempt  to  lib- 
erate his  friend.  The  knot,  on  account  of  the 
stiffness  of  the  lasso,  had  not  been  drawn  very 
tight,  and  Johnny  thought  he  had  hit  upon  a 
plan  to  untie  it. 

"  Archie,"  he  whispered,  excitedly. 

"  Hallo !  "  was  the  response. 

"Are  you  asleep?" 

"No.;  nor  am  I  likely  to  be  to-night," 
growled  Archie.  "  This  lasso  hurts  me  dread- 
fully. Pierre  drew  it  as  tight  as  he  could." 

"Don't  talk  so  loud,"  whispered  Johnny. 
"Keep  your  eyes  on  that  sentinel,  and,  if  he 
moves,  shake  your  arms." 

"What  for?"  demanded  Archie.  "What 
are  you  going  to  do?" 

"  I  do  n't  know  that  I  can  do  any  thing ;  but 
I  am  going  to  try." 

"All  right;  go  ahead." 


218   FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

Johnny  took  a  long  look  at  the  Ranchero,  la 
make  sure  that  he  was  sound  asleep,  and  then, 
rolling  up  close  to  Archie,  he  went  to  work 
with  his  teeth  to  untie  the  lasso,  with  which 
the  latter's  arms  were  bound.  This  was  not  so 
easy  a  task  as  he  had  imagined  it  would  be; 
but  the  knot  yielded  a  little  with  every  pull 
he  made  upon  it,  and,  after  ten  minutes  hard 
work,  Johnny  rolled  back  upon  his  blanket 
with  an  expression  of  great  satisfaction  upon 
his  countenance,  and  watched  his  friend  as  he 
unwound  the  lariat  with  which  his  feet  were 
confined. 

"Hurrah  for  you,  Johnny!"  whispered 
Archie,  a  moment  afterward.  "  We  '11  out-wit 
these  greasers  yet.  Hold  easy,  now,  and  I'll 
soon  give  you  the  free  use  of  your  hands  and 
feet." 

Archie's  fingers  made  quick  work  with  John- 
ny's bonds,  and,  when  he  had  untied  his  arms, 
lie  left  him  to  do  the  rest,  and  turned  to  re- 
lease his  cousin.  This  he  soon  accomplished, 
and  then  the  three  boys,  astonished  at  their 
success,  crept  up  closer  together,  to  hold  a  con- 
Bultation. 


THE   ESCAPE.  219 

"Lead  on  Frank,  and  we'll  follow,"  said 
Johnny. 

"I  will  do  the  best  I  can,"  replied  Frank. 
"Let's  stick  together  as  long  as  possible;  tut, 
if  we  are  discovered,  we  must  separate,  and  let 
each  man  take  of  himself.  Remember,  now,  the 
one  that  reaches  home  must  not  sleep  soundly 
until  the  others  are  rescued." 

As  Frank  said  this,  he  threw  himself  flat 
upon  the  ground,  and  crawled  slowly  and  noise- 
lessly through  the  grass,  toward  the  ledge  by 
which  they  had  entered  the  glade  in  the  morn- 
ing. They  passed  the  sentinel  without  arous- 
ing him,  and  approached  the  fire  around  which 
lay  the  stalwart  forms  of  the  Rancheros,  who 
snored  lustily,  in  blissful  ignorance  of  what  was 
going  on  close  by  them. 

The  boys'  hearts  beat  high  with  hope  as  they 
neared  the  ledge,  and  Johnny  was  in  the  very 
act  of  reaching  over  to  give  Frank  an  approv- 
ing slap  on  the  back,  when  the  movement  was 
arrested  by  a  loud  yawn  behind  him.  This 
was  followed  by  an  ejaculation  of  astonishment, 
and.  an  instant  afterward,  the  report  of  a  pistol 
rang  through  the  glade.  The  sentinel  had  just 


220    FKANK  AMONG  THE  KANCHEKOS. 

awakened  from  his  sleep,  and  discovered  tLat 
the  prisoners'  blankets  were  empty. 

"Help!  help!"  he  shouted,  in  stentorian 
tones,  discharging  another  barrel  of  his  re- 
volver, to  arouse  his  companions.  "Pierre, 
your  birds  have  flown !  " 

"  Run  now,  fellows !  "  whispered  Frank,  and, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  jumped  up, 
and  took  to  his  heels. 


THE  STRUGGLE   ON  THE   CLIFF.          221 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  STRUGGLE  ON  THE  CLIFF. 

A  S  we  have  before  remarked,  the  place  in 
*-*•  which  the  Rancheros  had  made  their  camp 
was  a  natural  recess  in  the  mountains.  It  was 
surrounded  on  three  sides  by  rocky  cliffs,  the 
tops  of  which  seemed  to  pierce  the  clouds,  and 
whose  sides  were  so  steep  that  a  goat  could 
scarcely  have  found  footing  thereon.  In  front 
of  the  glade  was  the  gorge,  the  sight  of  which 
had  so  terrified  Arthur  Vane,  and  which  was 
so  deep  that  the  roar  of  the  mountain  torrent, 
that  ran  through  it,  could  be  but  faintly  heard 
by  one  standing  on  the  cliffs  above. 

There  were  thre<*  ways  to  get  out  of  the 
glade  :  one  was  by  the  narrow  ledge  of  rocks 
by  which  the  Rancheros  and  their  captives  had 
entered  it  in  the  morning;  another  was  by  a 
path  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  glade,  which 
also  ran  along  the  very  brink  of  the  precipice; 


222        FBANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEKOS. 

the  third  was  by  climbing  up  the  cliffs  to  the 
dizzy  heights  above.  These  avenues  of  escape 
were  all  more  or  less  dangerous,  and  one  unac- 
cust  Dined  to  traveling  in  the  mountains  would 
have  been  at  a  loss  to  decide  which  to  take. 
Indeed,  a  very  timid  boy  would  have  preferred 
to  remain  a  prisoner  among  the  Rancheros,  as 
long  as  he  was  sure  of  kind  treatment  and 
plenty  to  eat,  rather  than  risk  any  of  them.  If 
he  took  either  of  the  paths  that  ran  along  the 
chasm,  he  would  require  the  skill  of  a  rope- 
dancer  to  cross  it  in  safety ;  for  they  were  both 
narrow  and  slippery,  and  a  single  misstep  in 
the  darkness  would  launch  him  into  eternity. 
If  he  tried  to  scale  the  mountains,  which,  in 
some  places,  overhung  the  glade,  he  would  be 
in  equal  danger ;  for  he  might,  at  any  moment, 
lose  his  balance,  and  come  tumbling  back  again. 
Frank  and  his  two  friends  had  thought  of 
all  these  things  during  the  day,  and  they  knew 
just  what  perils  they  were  likely  to  encounter; 
but  they  were  not  formidable  enough  to  turn 
them  from  their  purpose.  While  they  were 
crawling  cautiously  through  the  grass,  they  had 
been  allowed  ample  time  to  make  up  their 


THE  STEUGGLE   ON   THE  CLIFF.          223 

minds  what  they  would  do,  if  their  flight  shoild 
be  discovered  before  they  got  out  of  the  glade; 
and,  consequently,  when  the  yells  of  the  senti- 
nel, and  the  reports  of  his  pistol,  told  them 
that  the  pursuit  was  about  to  begin,  they  did 
not  hesitate,  but  proceeded  at  once  to  carry  out 
the  plans  they  had  formed.  Archie,  the  mo- 
ment he  jumped  to  his  feet,  darted  toward  the 
cliffs,  while  Frank  and  Johnny  ran  for  the 
ledge  by  which  they  had  entered  the  pass  in 
the  morning ;  and,  by  the  time  the  Rancheros 
were  fairly  awake,  their  prisoners  had  disap- 
peared as  completely  as  though  they  had  never 
been  in  the  glade  at  all. 

Archie  had  chosen  the  most  difficult  way  of 
escape,  and  he  had  done  so  with  an  object.  He 
believed  that,  as  soon  as  Pierre  and  his  band 
became  aroused,  they  would  rush  in  a  body  for 
the  path  that  led  toward  the  settlement;  and 
Archie  did  not  like  the  idea  of  running  a  race 
through  the  darkness  along  the  brink  of  that 
precipice.  He  might  make  a  misstep,  and  fall 
into  the  gorge,  and  that  would  be  infinitely 
worse  than  remaining  a  prisoner.  His  enemies, 
he  thought,  would  not  be  likely  to  follow  him 


224    FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

up  the  cliffs;  but  if  they  did,  and  he  found 
that  he  could  not  distance  them,  there  were 
plenty  of  excellent  hiding-places  among  the 
bushes  and  rocks,  where  he  could  remain  in 
perfect  security,  with  an  army  searching  for 
him.  Johnny  and  Frank  did  not  look  at  the 
matter  in  that  way.  They  thought  not  of  con- 
cealment; they  took  the  nearest  and  easiest 
way  home,  and  trusted  entirely  to  their  heels. 

"Help!  help!"  shouted  the  sentinel,  dis- 
charging the  barrels  of  his  revolver  in  quick 
succession.  "  The  boys  have  gone ! " 

For  a  moment,  great  confusion  reigned  in  the 
camp.  The  Rancheros  sprang  to  their  feet, 
and  hurried  hither  and  thither,  each  one  ask- 
ing questions,  and  giving  orders,  to  which  no- 
body paid  the  least  attention,  and  the  babel  of 
English  and  Spanish  that  arose  awoke  the 
echoes  far  and  near.  The  chief  was  the  only 
one  who  seemed  to  know  what  ought  to  be 
done.  He  examined  the  beds  to  satisfy  himself 
that  the  prisoners  had  really  gone,  and  then  his 
voice  was  heard  above  the  tumult,  commanding 
silence. 

The  first  thing  he  did,  when  quiet  had  been 


THE  STKUGGLE   ON  THE   CLIFF.          225 

restored,  was  to  swear  lustily  at  the  sentinel, 
for  allowing  the  prisoners  to  escape,  and  then 
he  set  about  making  preparations  for  pursuit. 
He  sent  two  of  the  band  on  foot  down  the  path 
that  led  toward  the  settlement,  another  he  or- 
dered to  saddle  the  horses,  and  the  rest  he  com- 
manded to  search  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
glade. 

As  long  as  the  noise  continued,  Archie 
worked  industriously ;  and,  being  a  very  active 
fellow,  he  got  up  the  mountain  at  an  aston- 
ishing rate.  But  as  soon  as  the  chief  had 
succeeded  in  restoring  order,  he  sat  down  to 
recover  his  breath,  and  to  wait  until  the  Ran- 
cheros  left  the  glade :  for  he  was  fearful  that 
the  noise  he  necessarily  made,  in  working  his 
way  through  the  thick  bushes,  might  direct  his 
enemies  in  their  search. 

Although  it  was  pitch  dark  on  the  mountain- 
side, Archie  could  tell  exactly  what  was  going 
on  below  him.  He  knew  when  the  two  men 
left  the  glade,  chuckled  to  himself  when  he 
heard  the  Ranchero,  who  had  been  ordered  to 
saddle  the  horses,  growl  at  the  restive  animals, 
and  noted  the  movements  of  the  party  who 
15 


226    FEANK  AMONG  THE  KANGHEROS. 

were  searching  the  bushes.  He  distinctly  heard 
their  voices,  and  he  knew  that  Arthur  Vane 
was  with  them. 

"Do  you  think  they  will  get  away,  Joa- 
qnin?"  he  heard  the  traitor  ask. 

"  That 's  hard  to  tell,"  was  the  reply.  "  It 
depends  a  good  deal  upon  how  long  they  have 
been  gone.  If  they  get  back  to  the  settlement, 
you  had  better  keep  away  from  there." 

"  That  'a  so,"  said  Archie,  to  himself. 

"  They  '11  never  reach  the  settlement  if  I  can 
help  it,"  declared  Arthur.  "  If  I  get  my  eyes 
on  one  of  them,  I  bet  he  don't  escape.  I'll 
take  him  prisoner." 

Perhaps  we  shall  find  that  Arthur  did  "get 
his  eyes  on  one  of  them,"  and  we  shall  see  how 
he  kept  his  promise. 

The  party  went  entirely  around  the  glade, 
passing  directly  beneath  Archie,  who  held  him- 
self in  readiness  to  continue  his  flight,  should 
they  begin  to  ascend  the  cliff,  and  finally  one  of 
them  called  out: 

"  They  're  not  here,  Pierre." 

"  Mount,  then,  every  one  of  you,"  exclaimed 
the  chief,  "When  you  reach  the  end  of  the 


THE  STRUGGLE   ON  THE   CLIFF.          227 

pass,  scatter  out  and  search  the  mountains, 
thoroughly.  Antoine,  we  have  to  thank  you 
for  the  loss  of  a  fortune,  you  idiot." 

Archie  heard  the  Ranchero  mutter  an  angry 
reply,  and  then  came  the  tramping  of  horses  aa 
the  band  rode  from  the  glade.  In  a  few  seconds 
the  sound  died  away  in  the  pass,  and  the  fugitive 
was  left  alone.  His  first  impulse  was  to  descend 
into  the  glade,  mount  Sleepy  Sam,  and  follow 
the  robbers.  Archie  could  ride  the  animal  with- 
out saddle  or  bridle  as  well  as  he  could  with 
them  ;  and  he  was  sure  that  if  he  could  get  but 
a  few  feet  the  start  of  the  Rancheros,  his 
favorite  could  easily  distance  them.  But  he 
remembered  the  chief's  order  for  the  band  to 
"scatter  out,"  and  knowing  that  every  path 
that  led  toward  the  settlement  would  be  closely 
guarded,  and  fearing  that  he  might  run  against 
some  of  his  enemies  in  the  dark,  he  decided 
that  the  safest  plan  was  to  remain  upon  the  cliffs, 
where  he  could  not  be  followed  by  mounted 
men.  It  cost  him  a  struggle  to  abandon  his 
horse,  which  was  galloping  about  the  glade,  and 
neighing  disconsolately,  but  he  wisely  concluded 
that  twenty  thousand  dollars  were  worth  more 


228    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

to  his  uncle  than  Sleepy  Sam  was  to  him;  and 
drawing  in  a  long  breath,  he  tightened  his  sash 
about  his  waist,  and  again  began  the  ascent. 

His  progress  was  necessarily  slow  and  labo- 
lious,  for,  in  some  places,  the  cliff  was  quite 
perpendicular,  and  the  only  way  he  could  ad- 
vance at  all,  was  by  drawing  himself  up  by  the 
grass  and  bushes  that  grew  out  of  the  crevices 
of  the  rocks.  Sometimes  these  gave  way  be- 
neath his  weight,  and  then  Archie  would  de- 
scend the  mountain  for  a  short  distance  much 
more  rapidly  than  he  had  gone  up.  He  waa 
often  badly  bruised  by  these  falls.  The  bushes 
and  the  sharp  points  of  the  rocks  tore  his 
clothing,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  as 
ragged  as  any  beggar  he  had  ever  seen  in  the 
streets  of  his  native  city. 

"  By  gracious ! "  exclaimed  Archie,  stopping 
for  the  hundredth  time  to  rest,  and  feeling  of 
a  severe  bruise  on  his  cheek  which  he  had  re- 
ceived in  his  last  fall,  "  I  am  completely  tired 
out.  And  this  is  all  the  work  of  that  Benedict 
Arnold !  Did  n't  I  say  that  we  should  see 
trouble  with  that  fellow?  If  I  were  out  on 
clear  ground,  and  had  my  horse  and  gun,  I  'd 


THE  STRUGGLE   ON  THE   CLIFF.          229 

be  willing  to  forgive  him  for  what  he  has  done 
to  me  hut  I  '11  always  remember  that  he  struck 
Johnny  over  the  head,  when  he  was  tied,  and 
could  not  defend  himself." 

Wiping  the  big  drops  of  perspiration  from 
his  forehead,  and  panting  loudly  after  his 
violent  exertions,  Archie  again  toiled  up  the 
mountain,  so  weary  that  he  could  scarcely  drag 
one  foot  after  the  other.  He  stumbled  over 
logs,  fell  upon  the  rocks,  and  dragged  himself 
through  bushes  that  cut  into  his  tattered  gar- 
ments like  a  knife.  Hour  after  hour  passed  in 
this  way,  and,  finally,  just  as  the  sun  was  rising, 
Archie,  faint  with  thirst,  aching  in  every  joint, 
and  bleeding  from  numerous  wounds,  stepped 
upon  a  broad,  flat  bowlder,  which  formed  the 
summit  of  the  cliff. 

On  his  right,  between  him  and  a  huge  rock 
that  rose  for  fifty  feet  without  a  single  break  or 
crevice,  was  a  narrow  but  deep  chasm  which 
ran  down  the  cliff  he  had  just  ascended,  and 
into  which  he  had  more  than  once  been  in  im- 
minent danger  of  falling  as  he  stumbled  about 
in  the  darkness.  Far  below  him  was  the  glade, 
a  thin  wreath  of  smoke  rising  from  the  smoul- 


230   FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

dering  camp-fire,  and  on  his  left  was  the  gorge, 
a  hundred  times  more  frightful  in  his  eyes  now 
than  it  had  ever  seemed  before.  In  front  of  him 
the  mountain  sloped  gently  down  to  the  valley 
below,  its  base  clothed  with  a  thick  wood,  which 
at  that  height  looked  like  an  unbroken  mass  of 
green  sward,  and  beyond  that,  so  far  away  that 
it  could  be  but  dimly  seen,  was  a  broad  expanse 
of  prairie,  from  which  arose  the  whitewashed 
walls  of  his  uncle's  ranch o.  It  was  a  view  that 
would  have  put  an  artist  into  ecstasies,  but  the 
fugitive  was  in  no  mood  to  appreciate  it.  He 
had  no  eye  for  the  beauties  of  nature  then — he 
had  other  things  to  think  of;  and  he  regarded 
the  picturesque  mountains  and  rocks,  and  the 
luxuriant  woods,  as  so  many  grim  monsters 
that  stood  between  him  and  his  home. 

But  Archie  could  not  remain  long  inactive. 
After  all  the  dangers  he  had  incurred,  and  the 
bruises  and  scratches  he  had  received,  he  had 
accomplished  but  little.  He  was  still  thirty 
miles  from  home,  hungry  and  thirsty,  and  pur- 
Bued  by  crafty  enemies,  who  might  even  then  be 
watching  him  from  some  secret  covert. 

"  Oh,  if  I  were  only  there ! "  said  he,  casting 


THE  STRUGGLE  ON  THE   CLIFF.          231 

a  longing  glance  toward  the  rancho,  whose  in- 
mates, just  then  sitting  down  to  a  dainty  break- 
fast, little  dreamed  how  much  good  a  small 
portion  of  their  bounty  would  have  done  the 
fugitive  on  the  mountain-top.  "But,  as  the 
rancho  can't  come  to  me,  I  must  go  to  it." 

Archie  found  the  descent  of  the  mountain 
comparatively  easy.  There  were  not  so  many 
bushes  and  logs  to  impede  his  progress,  the 
slope  was  more  gradual,  and  he  had  not  gone 
more  than  half  a  mile  when  he  found  a  cool 
spring  bubbling  out  from  under  the  rocks.  He 
bathed  his  hands  and  face,  drank  a  little  of  the 
water,  and  when  he  set  out  again  he  felt  much 
refreshed.  He  followed  the  course  of  the  stream, 
which  ran  from  the  spring  down  the  mountain, 
keeping  a  bright  lookout  for  enemies  all  the 
while,  and  stopping  now  and  then  to  listen  for 
sounds  of  pursuit,  when  suddenly,  as  he  came 
around  the  base  of  a  rock,  he  found  himself  on 
the  brink  of  the  gorge,  and  confronted  by  a 
figure  in  buckskin,  who  stood  leaning  on  a  long, 
double-barrel  shot-gun.  Archie  started  back  in 
dismay,  and  so  did  the  boy  in  buckskin,  who 
turned  pale,  and  gazed  at  the  fugitive  as  if  he 


232    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEEOS. 

were  hardly  prepared  to  believe  that  he  was  a 
human  being.  He  speedily  recovered  himself, 
however,  and  after  he  had  let  down  the  hammer 
of  his  gun,  which  he  had  cocked  when  the  rag- 
ged apparition  first  came  in  sight,  he  dropped  the 
butt  of  the  weapon  to  the  ground,  exclaiming : 

"  Archie  Winters  !  " 

"  Benedict  Arnold !  " 

For  a  moment  the  two  boys  stood  looking  at 
each  other  without  moving  or  speaking.  Archie 
was  wondering  if  it  were  possible  for  him  to 
effect  the  capture  of  the  traitor,  and  Arthur, 
while  he  gazed  in  astonishment  at  the  fugitive's 
tattered  garments  and  bloody  face,  was  chuck- 
ling to  himself,  and  enjoying  beforehand  the 
punishment  he  had  resolved  to  inflict  upon 
Archie.  The  opportunity  he  had  wished  for 
BO  long  had  arrived  at  last. 

"  I  have  found  you,  have  I  ? "  said  Arthur, 
resting  his  elbows  on  the  muzzle  of  his  gun, 
and  looking  at  Archie  with  a  triumphant  smile. 

"  Well,  suppose  you  have ;  what  do  you  pro- 
pose to  do  about  it?" 

"  It  is  my  intention  to  teach  you  to  respect  a 
gentleman  the  next  time  you  meet  one." 


THE  STRUGGLE   ON  THE  CLIFF.          233 

"How  are  you  going  to  do  it?" 

"In  the  first  place,  by  giving  you  a  good 
beating." 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Archie,  contemptuously, 
looking  at  Arthur  from  head  to  foot,  as  if  he 
were  taking  his  exact  measure.  "  It  requires  a 
boy  with  considerable  'get  up'  about  him  to 
io  that." 

"None  of  your  impudence,  you  little  Yan- 
kee," exclaimed  Arthur,  angrily.  "I'm  going 
to  take  some  of  it  out  of  you  before  you  are  two 
minutes  older." 

When  the  traitor  selected  Archie  as  the  one 
upon  whom  he  could  wreak  his  vengeance  with- 
out danger  to  himself,  he  had  made  a  great  mis- 
take. Archie  was  smaller  than  most  boys  of  his 
age,  but,  after  all,  he  was  an  antagonist  not  to 
be  despised.  He  was  courageous,  active,  and  as 
wiry  as  an  eel ;  and  his  body,  hardened  by  all 
sorts  of  violent  exercise,  was  as  tough  as  hick- 
ory. He  trembled  a  little  when  he  looked  over 
into  the  gorge,  and  thought  of  the  possible  con- 
sequences of  an  encounter  on  that  cliff,  but  he 
was  not  the  one  to  save  himself  by  taking  to 
liis  heels,  nor  did  it  come  natural  to  him  to 


234    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

stand  still  and  take  a  whipping  as  long  as  lie 
possessed  the  strength  to  defend  himself.  A 
single  glance  was  enough  to  convince  him 
that  the  traitor  was  in  earnest,  and  Archie 
watched  the  opportunity  to  begin  the  struggle 
himself. 

"  Yes,  sir/'  continued  Arthur,  "  I  've  got  you 
now  just  where  I  want  you.  I  am  going  to 
settle  this  little  difference  between  us,  and 
then  I  shall  take  you  back  to  Pierre.  If  you 
have  any  apologies  to  make,  I  am  willing  to 
listen  to  them." 

The  effect  of  these  words  not  a  little  aston- 
ished the  traitor.  He  had  been  sure  that  Archie 
would  be  terribly  frightened,  and  that  he  would 
either  seek  safety  in  flight,  or  beg  hard  for 
mercy;  consequently,  he  was  not  prepared  for 
what  really  happened.  Scarcely  had  Arthur 
ceased  speaking,  when  the  place  where  Archie 
was  standing  became  suddenly  vacant,  and,  be- 
fore the  traitor  could  move  a  finger,  his  gun 
was  torn  from  his  grasp  and  pitched  over  the 
cliff  into  the  gorge.  As  the  weapon  fell  whiil- 
ing  through  the  air,  both  barrels  were  dis- 
charged, and  the  reports  awoke  a  thousand 


THE  STEUGGLE   ON  THE   CLIFF.          235 

echoes,  which  reverberated  among  the  mount- 
ains like  peals  of  thunder. 

"Now  we  are  on  equal  terms/'  exclaimed 
Archie,  as  he  clasped  the  traitor  around  the 
body  and  attempted  to  throw  him  to  the  ground. 
"You  remember  that  you  struck  Johnny  last 
night,  when  he  was  bound,  hand  and  foot,  and 
could  n't  defend  himself,  do  n't  you?" 

"Yes;  and  now  I  am  going  to  serve  you 
worse  than  that,"  replied  Arthur,  who,  although 
surprised  and  taken  at  great  disadvantage  by 
the  suddenness  of  the  attack,  struggled  furi- 
ously, and  to  such  good  purpose  that  he  very 
soon  broke  Archie's  hold ;  "  I  am  going  to  fling 
you  over  the  cliff  after  that  gun." 

The  contest  that  followed  was  carried  on  on 
the  very  edge  of  the  precipice,  and  was  long 
and  desperate.  Archie,  bruised  and  battered 
in  a  hundred  places,  and  weary  with  a  night's 
travel,  was  scarcely  a  match  for  the  fresh  and 
vigorous  Arthur,  who,  in  his  blind  rage,  seemed 
determined  to  fulfill  his  threat  of  throwing  him 
over  the  cliff  after  the  gun.  Fortune  favored 
first  one  and  then  the  other ;  but  Archie's  in- 
domitable courage  and  long  wind  carried  the 


236    FEANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

day,  and  he  finally  succeeded  in  bearing  bin 
antagonist  to  the  ground  and  holding  him 
there. 

"You  are  not  going  to  throw  me  over,  are 
you?"  gasped  Arthur,  who  was  humble  enough, 
now  that  he  had  been  worsted. 

"Do  you  take  me  for  a  savage?"  panted 
Archie,  in  reply.  "  I  simply  wanted  to  save 
myself  from  a  whipping  that  I  did  not  deserve, 
and  I  've  done  it.  Now  you  must  go  to  the 
settlement  with  me,  to" — 

"  Here  you  are ! "  exclaimed  a  familiar  voice. 
"Let  us  see  if  you  will  escape  me  again." 

Archie  looked  up,  and  saw  Antoine  Mercedes 
advancing  upon  him. 


CONCLUSION.  237 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

A  RCHIE  had  been  so  fully  occupied  with 
the  traitor  that  he  had  not  thought  of  hia 
other  enemies,  and  for  a  moment  he  lay  upon 
the  ground  beside  his  antagonist,  gazing  at 
Antoine  in  speechless  amazement.  Resistance, 
of  course,  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  and  it  also 
seemed  useless  to  make  any  attempts  at  escape; 
for  he  had  been  so  nearly  exhausted  by  his 
struggle  with  Arthur,  that  he  scarcely  possessed 
the  power  to  rise  from  the  ground.  "  I  am 
caught  easy  enough,"  thought  he,  "  and  I  might 
as  well  give  up  first  as  last." 

"  I  see  before  me  twenty  thousand  dollars," 
said  Antoine,  hastily  coiling  up  his  lasso  as  he 
approached. 

These  words  acted  like  a  spur  upon  Archied 
flagging  spirits.  He  no  longer  thought  of  sur- 
render :  on  the  contrary,  almost  before  he  knew 


238         FRANK  AMONG  THE   RANCHEROS. 

it,  he  found  himself  on  his  feet  and  going  down 
the  mountain  like  the  wind. 

"Carrajo!"  yelled  the  Ranchero,  swinging 
his  lasso  around  his  head. 

Archie  was  afraid  of  that  lasso,  for  he  knew 
that  he  was  in  danger  as  long  as  he  was  within 
reach  of  it;  but  fortunately  he  had  been  too 
quick  for  Antoine.  He  heard  the  lariat  whistle 
through  the  air  behind  him,  and  snap  like  a 
whip  close  to  his  ear,  and  then  he  knew  that 
his  enemy  had  missed  his  mark. 

"  Santa  Maria ! "  shouted  the  robber.  "  Stop, 
you  young  vagabond,  or  I  '11  shoot  you." 

The  fugitive  was  not  frightened  by  this 
threat.  He  was  not  afraid  of  being  shot,  nor 
did  he  believe  that  he  could  be  overtaken  in  a 
fair  race ;  for,  now  that  he  got  started,  he  found 
that  he  had  wind  enough  left  for  a  long  run. 
He  had  lived  among  the  Rancheros  long  enough 
to  know  that  they  were  very  poor  marksmen, 
and  that  they  could  not  boast  of  their  swiftness 
of  foot;  and,  having  escaped  the  lasso,  his 
Bpirits  rose  again,  and  hope  lent  him  wings. 
He  heard  Antoine  crushing  through  the  bushes 
in  pursuit,  but  the  sound  grew  fainter  and 


CONCLUSION.  239 

fainter  as  he  sped  on  his  way.  He  jumped 
over  rocks  and  logs,  and  cleared  ravines  that  at 
almost  any  other  time  would  have  effectually 
checked  his  progress,  and  when  he  reached  the 
thick  woods  at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  the 
Ranchero  was  out  of  sight  and  hearing. 

Archie  was  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  he 
had  now  reached  the  most  dangerous  part  of 
his  route  homeward.  The  chief  had  ordered 
the  band  to  "scatter  out"  when  they  reached 
the  end  of  the  pass,  and  he  knew  that  every 
road  that  led  toward  the  settlement  was  closely 
watched.  He  knew,  also,  that  his  only  chance 
for  escape  was  to  avoid  these  roads  and  keep 
in  the  thickest  part  of  the  woods.  He  sat 
down  behind  some  bushes  to  rest  for  a  few 
moments,  and  then  started  on  again,  sometimes 
creeping  on  his  hands  and  knees,  making  use 
of  every  log  and  rock  to  cover  his  retreat,  and 
rtopping  frequently  to  examine  the  woods  in 
front  of  him,  and  to  listen  for  sounds  of  pur- 
suit. He  had  accomplished  about  a  mile  in 
this  way,  when  he  found  himself  in  one  of  the 
numerous  bridle-paths  that  ran  through  the 
mountains  in  every  direction,  and,  what  was 


240    FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS. 

worse,  he  saw  the  scowling  visage  of  Pierre 
Costello  arise  from  behind  a  log  not  :en  paces 
from  him.  With  the  same  glance  he  saw  some- 
thing else ;  and  that  was  a  crouching  figure  in 
buckskin,  which  was  creeping  stealthily  towaid 
the  robber. 

"  Here  's  one  caught,"  said  Pierre,  stepping 
into  the  path  and  walking  toward  Archie. 
"  None  of  your  tricks,  now ;  you  can't  escape." 

"  I  do  n't  intend  to  try,"  replied  Archie, 
with  a  boldness  that  astonished  the  robber. 
"Your  game  is  up,  Mr.  Pierre,  and  I  advice 
you  to  surrender  quietly,  if  you  do  n't  want  to 
get  hurt ! " 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  the  Ranchero.  "  Sur- 
render !  If  you  know  what  you  are  about,  you 
will  not  offer  any  resistance.  I  am  a  desperate 
man." 

The  robber  spoke  these  words  boldly  enough, 
but  he  evidently  did  not  like  the  looks  of 
things.  He  gazed  earnestly  at  Archie,  as  if 
trying  to  determine  what  it  was  that  had  en- 
comaged  him  to  show  so  bold  a  front,  and 
seeing  that  he  held  one  hand  behind  him, 
Pierre  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must, 


CONCLUSION.  241 

by  some  means,  have  secured  possession  of  a 
revolver. 

"Drop  that  weapon,  and  hold  your  arms 
above  your  head,"  said  the  robber. 

Archie  did  not  move.  While  he  appeared  to 
be  looking  steadily  at  the  chief,  he  was  really 
watching  the  movements  of  the  figure  in  buck- 
skin, which  had  all  this  while  been  working 
its  way  quickly,  but  noiselessly,  through  the 
bushes,  and  had  now  approached  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  Ranchero. 

"Did  you  hear  what  I  said?"  demanded  the 
latter,  placing  his  hand  on  one  of  his  revolvers. 
"  You  are  my  prisoner." 

"  Well,  then,  why  do  n't  you  come  and  take 
me  ?  "  asked  Archie. 

At  this  moment  a  slight  rustling  in  the 
leaves  caught  the  quick  ear  of  the  robber,  who 
turned  suddenly,  uttered  a  cry  of  alarm,  and 
fled  down  the  path,  closely  followed  by  some- 
thing that  to  Archie  looked  like  a  gray  streak, 
so  swiftly  did  it  move.  But  it  was  not  a  gray 
streak — it  was  Dick  Lewis,  who,  after  a  few 
of  his  long  strides,  collared  the  Ranchero  with 
one  hand  and  threw  him  to  the  ground,  and 
16 


242    FBANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEKOS. 

with  the  other  seized  the  revolver  he  was  try- 
ing to  draw,  and  wrested  it  from  his  grasp. 
Pierre  struggled  desperately,  but  to  no  purpose, 
for  the  trapper  handled  him  as  easily  as  though 
he  had  been  a  child. 

"  Now,  then,  you  tarnal  Greaser,"  exclaimed 
Dick,  "your  jig's  danced,  an'  you  must  settle 
with  the  fiddler.  If  I  only  had  you  out  on 
the  prairie,  I  'd  larn  you  a  few  things  I  reckon 
you  never  heern  tell  on.  Come  here,  you  keer- 
less  feller,  an'  tell  me  if  you  'member  what  I 
said  to  you  yesterday  !  Whar  's  Frank  ?  " 

Before  Archie  had  time  to  reply,  an  incident 
happened,  which,  had  the  trapper  been  a  less 
experienced  man  than  he  was,  would  have 
turned  his  triumph  into  defeat  very  suddenly. 
He  had  more  than  one  enemy  to  contend  with, 
and  the  first  intimation  he  had  of  the  fact,  was 
a  sound  that  Archie  had  heard  so  often  since 
his  residence  in  California  that  it  had  become 
familiar  to  him — the  whistling  noise  made  by 
a  lariat  in  its  passage  through  the  air.  Before 
Archie  could  look  around  to  discover  whence 
this  new  danger  came,  he  saw  the  trapper 
stretched  at  full  length  on  the  ground.  For 


CONCLUSION.  243 

an  instant  his  heart  stood  still ;  but  it  was  only 
for  an  instant,  for  Dick  was  on  his  feet  again 
immediately,  and  Archie  drew  a  long  breath  of 
relief  when  he  saw  the  lasso,  which  he  feared 
had  settled  around  his  friend's  neck,  glide  harm- 
lessly over  his  shoulder.  The  trapper,  from 
force  of  long  habit,  was  always  on  the  watch 
for  danger,  and  when  he  heard  that  whistling 
sound  in  the  air,  he  did  not  stop  to  look  for  his 
enemy,  but  dropped  like  a  flash  to  avoid  the 
lasso;  and  when  he  arose  to  his  feet  his  long 
rifle  was  leveled  at  a  thicket  of  bushes  in  front 
of  him. 

"  Show  yourself,  Greaser !  "  cried  Dick. 

The  concealed  enemy  obeyed  without  an  in- 
stant's hesitation,  and  when  he  stepped  into 
the  path,  Archie  saw  that  it  was  Antoine  Mer- 
cedes. 

"  Thar  'a  nothin'  like  knowin'  the  tricks  of 
the  varmints,"  said  Dick,  coolly,  as  he  handed 
his  rifle  to  Archie,  and  proceeded  to  disarm 
Antoine.  "If  I  had  been  a  greenhorn,  I 
should  have  been  well-nigh  choked  to  death 
by  this  time;  but  a  man  who  has  seed  prairy 
life,  soon  larns  that  his  ears  was  made  for  use 


244   FRANK  AMONG  THE  BANCHEBOS. 

as  well  as  his  eyes.  Now,  little  un,  whar  *s 
the  rest  of  them  fellers  ?  " 

While  the  trapper  was  engaged  in  confining 
his  prisoners'  arms  with  their  own  lassos, 
Archie  gave  him  a  rapid  account  of  all  that 
had  happened  during  his  captivity,  dwelling 
with  a  good  deal  of  emphasis  on  the  treachery 
of  Arthur  Vane.  Dick  opened  his  eyes  in  as- 
tonishment, and,  when  Archie  had  finished  his 
story,  declared  that  they  would  be  serving  Ar- 
thur right  if  they  were  to  leave  him  among  the 
robbers. 

"Why,  he  doesn't  want  to  get  away  from 
them,"  said  Archie.  "He  is  with  them  now, 
hunting  for  us.  He  and  I  had  a  fight  not  half 
an  hour  ago,  and,  if  Antoine  had  only  stayed 
away  a  few  minutes  longer,  Arthur  would  have 
been  a  prisoner  too. 

At  this  moment,  a  party  of  Rancheros  gal- 
loped up,  led  by  Uncle  James  and  Mr.  Harris, 
and  accompanied  by  the  dogs,  which  the  boys — 
who  had  intended  to  devote  the  most  of  their 
time  to  stalking  the  elks,  which  were  abundant 
in  the  mountains — had  left  at  home.  Marmion 
and  Carlo  made  every  demonstration  of  joy  at 


CONCLUSION.  245 

seeing  Archie  once  more,  and  Mr.  "Winters 
greeted  him  as  though  he  had  not  met  him  for 
years. 

Without  any  unnecessary  delay,  a  trusty 
herdsman  was  dismounted,  and  sent  back  to  the 
ranch  with  the  prisoners,  and  Archie  mounted 
his  horse. 

"You  had  better  go  home,"  said  Mr.  Win- 
ters, looking  at  his  nephew's  rags  and  bruises. 

"Oh  no,  uncle,"  said  Archie,  quickly.  "I 
promised  Frank  and  Johnny  that,  if  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  away,  I  would  n't  sleep  until 
they  were  safe  among  friends.  I  want  to  go 
with  you." 

Uncle  James  did  not  urge  the  matter,  and 
Dick,  although  he  shook  his  head  at  Archie, 
and  called  him  a  "keerless  feller,"  was  proud 
of  his  pluck. 

The  trapper,  who  was  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  the  party,  set  out  at  a  rapid  trot  to- 
ward the  pass,  but  had  not  gone  far,  when  he 
stopped,  and  turned  his  head  on  one  side  to 
listen.  "Spread  out,  fellers,"  said  he,  waving 
his  hand  toward  the  bushes  on  each  side  of 
him.  "  Thar  's  something  comin'." 


246   FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

The  horsemen  separated,  and  took  up  their 
positions  on  each  side  of  the  path.  They  could 
hear  nothing  but  the  chirping  of  the  birds,  and 
the  sighing  of  the  wind  through  the  branches 
above  their  heads ;  but  they  had  not  been  long 
in  their  concealments  before  they  found  that 
Dick  had  not  been  deceived.  The  clatter  of  a 
horse's  hoofs  on  the  hard  path,  faint  and  far 
off  at  first,  but  growing  louder  as  the  animal 
approached,  came  to  their  ears,  and  presently 
Roderick  appeared  in  sight.  The  first  thing 
Archie  noticed  was,  that  he  wore  neither  sad- 
dle nor  bridle;  the  second,  that  he  carried 
Frank  and  Johnny  on  his  back.  One  of 
Frank's  hands  was  twisted  in  the  horse's  mane, 
and  his  body  was  tightly  clasped  in  the  arms 
of  Johnny,  who  sat  behind  him.  Archie  had 
never  seen  the  mustang  run  so  swiftly  before, 
and  he  made  up  his  mind  that,  if  any  of  the 
Rancheros  were  pursuing  him,  they  might  as 
well  give  up  the  chase.  He  also  thought  that 
Frank  and  Johnny  would  enjoy  a  long  ride  be- 
fore they  got  a  chance  to  put  their  feet  on  the 
ground  again;  for  Roderick  was  plainly  stam- 
j»eded.  It  was  fortunate  that  Dick  had  sent 


CONCLUSION.  247 

them  into  the  bushes ;  for,  had  the  party  been 
in  the  path  then,  some  of  them  would  have 
been  run  down,  and,  perhaps,  trampled  to 
death. 

"  Out  of  the  way  there,  Greaser ! "  shouted 
Frank,  when  he  discovered  the  trapper  stand- 
ing in  the  path. 

Dick  was  not  a  Greaser ;  but  he  thought  it 
best  to  get  out  of  the  way;  and  Frank  would 
have  gone  by  him,  had  not  Carlo  and  Marmion 
recognized  their  masters,  and  set  up  a  howl  of 
welcome. 

"Whoa!"  shouted  Johnny  and  Frank,  in 
concert,  and  Roderick  stopped  so  suddenly  that 
both  his  riders  were  thrown  forward  on  his 
neck. 

"  Come  here,  you  boy  that  fit  that  ar'  Greaser, 
an'  tell  me  all  about  it,  to  onct,"  exclaimed 
Pick.  "Be  they  follerin'  you?" 

"  Not  that  we  know  of.  We  have  n't  seen 
any  of  them  since  daylight.  Lend  me  your 
lasso,  Carlos,  and  we  '11  go  back  and  hunt  up 
Archie," 

But  Archie  was  already  found,  and  when  he 
rode  out  of  the  bushes,  Frank  was  relieved  of 


248    FRANK  AMONG  THE  KANCHEROS. 

a  great  deal  of  anxiety.  He  had  not  seen  hia 
cousin  since  he  left  the  glade,  and  he  feared 
that  he  had  been  re-captured;  or,  what  was 
worse,  had  slipped  off  the  ledge  into  the 
gorge. 

A  consultation  was  now  held,  and,  after  Un 
cle  James  and  Mr.  Harris  had  listened  to  the 
boys'  story,  they  decided  that  it  would  be  a 
waste  of  time  to  search  for  Arthur  Vane.  The 
latter's  conduct  had  induced  the  belief  that 
he  was  a  friend  of  the  robbers,  and  could 
go  and  come  when  he  pleased.  No  doubt, 
when  he  got  tired  of  life  in  the  mountains,  he 
would  return  home  of  his  own  free  will.  The 
party  would  keep  on  to  the  glade,  however,  and 
recover  Sleepy  Sam,  and  the  boys'  weapons. 
When  this  had  been  decided  upon,  Dick's 
horse,  which  he  had  hidden  in  the  bushes,  was 
brought  out  for  Johnny,  a  lasso  was  twisted 
around  Roderick's  lower  jaw,  to  serve  as  a  bri- 
dle, and  then  the  trapper  shouldered  his  long 
rifle,  and  gave  another  exhibition  of  his  "trav- 
elin'  qualities."  He  kept  the  horses  in  a  steady 
gallop,  sometimes  "letting  out"  a  little  on  get- 
ting far  in  advance  of  them,  and,  when  he 


CONCLUSION.  249 

stopped  at  the  entrance  to  the  pass,  he  seemed 
as  fresh  as  ever. 

The  boys  had  expressed  the  hope  that  they 
would  surprise  some  of  the  robbers  in  the  glade, 
but  were  disappointed.  They  found  their  sad- 
dles, bridles,  blankets,  and  weapons,  however, 
and  Archie  recovered  his  horse,  which  was 
standing  contentedly  beside  the  spring,  half 
asleep,  as  usual.  Every  thing  was  gathered  up, 
including  a  few  articles  the  robbers  had  left 
behind,  and,  as  they  rode  toward  the  settlement, 
the  boys  told  each  other  that  the  next  time 
they  went  hunting,  after  Pierre's  band  had  all 
been  captured,  they  would  camp  in  the  glade. 

Archie  was  confined  to  the  house  for  a  day 
or  two  after  that;  but,  if  his  body  was  stiff 
and  bruised,  his  tongue  was  all  right,  and  it 
was  a  long  time  before  he  got  through  relating 
the  incidents  of  his  fight  with  the  traitor. 

Frank  and  Johnny  had  met  with  no  adven- 
tures, not  having  seen  any  of  the  band  after 
they  left  the  glade.  They  crossed  the  ledge 
without  accident — although  they  confessed  that 
they  would  think  twice  before  trying  it  again — 
and,  when  they  reached  the  end  of  the  pass, 


250        FRANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

they  concealed  themselves  in  a  hollow  log  until 
morning.  "When  they  were  about  to  continue 
their  flight,  they  discovered  the  mustang,  which, 
unwilling  to  be  left  alone  in  the  glade,  had 
crossed  the  ledge,  and  was  on  his  way  home. 
Frank  easily  caught  him;  but,  knowing  hia 
favorite's  disposition  as  well  as  he  did,  hesi- 
tated about  requiring  him  to  carry  double; 
however,  he  finally  decided  that  Roderick  was 
large  enough  and  strong  enough  to  carry  them 
both,  and  that  he  must  do  it,  or  take  the  con- 
sequences. Frank  thereupon  mounted  the  ani- 
mal, Johnny  climbed  up  behind  him,  and 
Roderick,  after  a  few  angry  kicks,  consented  to 
the  arrangement.  Believing  the  boldest  course 
to  be  the  safest,  they  put  the  horse  to  the  top 
of  his  speed,  trusting  to  his  momentum  to  over- 
come any  thing  that  might  endeavor  to  obstruct 
the  path. 

"While  Archie  was  confined  to  the  house, 
Dick  and  old  Bob  were  busy,  and  their  efforts 
were  rewarded  by  the  capture  of  three  more  of 
the  band,  who  were  sent  to  San  Diego  with  the 
others.  Only  one  was  left  now,  and  that  was 
Joaquin,  who  had  thus  far  successfully  eluded 


CONCLUSION.  251 

pursuit.  The  traitor  was  also  missing;  and, 
although  Mr.  Vane  kept  his  herdsmen  in  the 
mountains  continually,  nothing  had  been  seen 
of  him.  Arthur  was  paying  the  penalty  of  hia 
treachery,  and  was  being  punished  in  a  way  ho 
had  not  thought  of.  After  his  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt to  capture  Archie  Winters,  he  went 
down  the  mountain  to  the  place  where  he  had 
left  his  horse,  and  there  he  found  Joaquin,  who 
had  narrowly  escaped  a  ball  from  the  rifle  of 
old  Bob  Kelly.  He  was  in  ill-humor  about 
something,  but  his  face  brightened  when  he 
discovered  Arthur. 

"  We  must  be  off  at  once,"  said  he.  "  The 
mountains  are  full  of  men." 

"I  believe  I'll  go  home,"  replied  Arthur. 
"  I  am  going  to  ask  my  father  to  give  me  money 
enough  to  take  me  back  to  Kentucky;  for,  of 
course,  I  can't  live  here  after  what  I  have  done. 
Before  I  go,  however,  I  want  to  tell  you,  that 
you  and  your  friends  are  a  set  of  blockheads. 
If  I  had  known  that  you  would  be  so  stupid 
as  tc  allow  those  fellows  to  escape,  I  should  n't 
have  had  any  thing  to  do  with  you.  Good-by, 
Joaquin." 


252    FBANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEROS. 

"Not  quite  BO  fast,  my  lad,"  said  the  Ran« 
chero,  seizing  Arthur's  horse  by  the  bridle. 
"You  are  worth  as  much  to  us  as  the  others." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  exclaimed  Arthur. 

"I  mean  that  you  are  a  prisoner,  and  that 
you  must  stay  here  with  us.  I  hope  you  un- 
derstand that?" 

Arthur  was  thunderstruck.  "Why,  Joa- 
quin," said  he,  "  Pierre  promised  me  faithfully 
that  I  should  be  treated  as  a  visitor,  and  that 
no  ransom  should  be  demanded  for  me." 

"And  did  you  put  any  faith  in  that  promise? 
When  your  father  gives  us  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  you  can  go,  and  not  before." 

Arthur  cried,  begged,  and  threatened  in  vain. 
Joaquin  was  firm,  and  the  traitor  was  obliged 
to  accompany  him  to  the  mountains.  That 
night  he  wrote  to  his  father,  informing  him  of 
his  situation,  and  Joaquin,  after  tying  his  pris- 
oner to  a  tree,  and  gagging  him,  to  prevent 
him  from  shouting  for  assistance,  rode  to  the 
settlement,  and  left  the  note  on  Mr.  Vane's 
door-step. 

During  the  three  weeks  following,  Arthur 
led  a  most  miserable  life.  He  had  nothing  to 


CONCLUSION.  253 

eat  but  dried  meat,  and  but  little  of  that.  Hia 
captor  treated  him  very  harshly,  tying  him  to  a 
tree  every  night,  to  prevent  his  escape,  and  mov- 
ing him  about  in  the  day-time,  from  place  to 
place,  to  avoid  capture.  It  soon  became  known 
in  the  settlement,  that  Arthur  was  held  as  a 
prisoner,  and  the  search  was  conducted  with  re- 
doubled energy.  Joaquin  was  constantly  on 
the  alert,  but  he  was  caught  at  last;  for,  one 
day,  just  as  he  and  Arthur  were  about  to  sit 
down  to  their  dinner  of  dried  meat,  Frank, 
Archie,  and  Johnny  suddenly  appeared  in  sight, 
accompanied  by  the  two  trappers.  Archie  had 
repeatedly  declared  that  he  owed  the  traitor  a 
debt,  which  he  intended  to  settle  the  very  first 
time  he  met  him;  but  when  he  saw  what  a 
wretched  condition  Arthur  was  in,  he  relented, 
and  pitied  him  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart. 

Joaquin  was  sent  to  San  Diego  to  be  dealt 
with  according  to  law,  and  Arthur  went  home. 
He  did  not  remain  there  long;  but,  as  soon  as 
he  was  able  to  travel,  started  for  Kentucky,  and 
every  one  was  glad  that  he  had  gone. 

Frank  and  Archie  could  tell  stories  now  that 
were  worth  listening  to.  They  had  seen  excit- 


254    FBANK  AMONG  THE  EANCHEEOS. 

ing  times  since  their  arrival  in  California,  had 
been  the  heroes  of  some  thrilling  adventures, 
and  they  never  got  weary  of  talking  over  the 
incidents  that  transpired  during  their  captivity 
AMONG  THE  RANCHEEOS. 


THE   EJ?I>. 


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